Detecting Chemical or Biological Poisons in the Air We Breathe

Suppose terrorists released a poison gas in a subway tunnel. Suppose a factory inadvertently released a toxic chemical into the air. Suppose a soldier might have been exposed to nerve gas. How would an individual know for sure if he or she were at risk? That is precisely the question that Professor Robert Lad and a team at the University of Maine's Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology are trying to answer for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The Lab has partnered with Sensor Research Development Corporation, founded by two University of Maine professors, and with Maine Medical Center to develop sensors that, merely by sensing people's breath, could tell them if they had been exposed to a pathogen. The Lab is doing the basic science, Maine Medical is conducting clinical tests, and Sensor Research Development Corporation is providing the applied development to create specific products for the Defense Department.