Scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) have introduced AroTrack.
About AroTrack
- It is an economical and portable device to accurately detect harmful pollutants such as phenol, benzene or xylenoin in water.
- Scientists claim that the device can be a game-changer given the increasing water pollution due to industrialisation, urbanisation, and unregulated effluent discharge.
- AroTrack device uses proteins typically found in bacteria living in heavily polluted environments to effectively identify multiple aromatic pollutants in water.
- Once mixed in the water sample, the protein undergoes a highly selective ATP hydrolysis chemical reaction if an aromatic compound is present in the sample.
- This reaction is expressed with a change in the colour of the protein solution, which AroTrack can then detect.
- The key component of the device is a biosensing module called MopR – a sensitive sensor for detecting phenol.
- MopR is both selective and stable, meaning it can detect pollutants even in complex environments with a high degree of precision.
