The Kokkoli group has designed an aptamer-amphiphile and used it to decorate the surface of a liquid crystal. The biosensor detected beta-lactoglobulin, a major allergen from cow’s milk, at 0.18 ppm, thus demonstrating that it has the potential to be used for the fast and label-free detection of beta-lactoglobulin in food processing facilities. This work was in collaboration with the Labuza group in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota.
This work was featured on a cover of Bioconjugate Chemistry’s November 20, 2019 issue.
Paper link: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.9b00412