New Device Could Detect GMOs That Have Escaped Into Environment

A file photo of students testing the contents of a stream at the Notre Dame Linked Experimental Ecosystem Facility for evidence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Rice University scientists are developing the light transmission spectrometer, which can detect GMOs. Arial Shogren

Researchers led by Rice University Professor Scott Egan have received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to detect genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the environment. 

The research team is developing a tool Egan said is the ecologist’s version of a Star Trek tricorder, according to an Oct. 10 university news release.  

The device, called a light transmission spectrometer (LTS), is already able to detect signs of genetically modified DNA in water samples and the team is now refining the technology. 

The device uses light, which is absorbed and fragmented by particles on the nanoscale. Nanoparticle physicists are then able to analyze how the light interacts with those particles to measure and interpret the genetic composition.

Scott Egan, an assistant professor of biosciences at Rice University, is leading a project to develop technology that will monitor and quantify genetically engineered organisms and their byproducts in the environment. Jeff Fitlow/Rice University