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<P>Develop new technologies for characterizing fundamental nanoscale processes. Construct and characterize self-assembled nanostructures. Develop devices and systems incorporating microfabrication and nanotechnology. Develop a framework for economic, environmental and health risk assessment for nanotechnologies applied to food, agriculture and biological systems. Produce education and outreach materials on nanofabrication, sensing, systems integration and application risk assessment. </P>
<P>NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: An easy-to-use biosensor will be developed to test food suspensions in out-of-lab settings for the presence or absence of target bacteria. The system will be optimized to detect various amounts of target organisms. </P>
<P>APPROACH: We will use an immunogenic biosensing method. We will employ a bifunctional linkler that has the binding affinity to the target organism as well as to aggregate gold nanoparticles. The aggregation of gold nanoparticles, in the absence of target organism, will give raise to change in the system color -- from red to purple. Once optimized, the red-to-purple color change can be a visual indication of the absence of organism above a pre-set threshold level. </P>