The Biosensor works by incorporating antibodies to the specific chemical (drug, hormone, viral protein or pesticide, for example) that it has been designed to detect.
It also says these same bioluminescence techniques could be used as a diagnostic indicator of pollution levels or even as a biosensor for monitoring diseases like diabetes.
Commercial versions will take a while to develop, but the group and Pacific Dunlop, its commercial sponsors hope the Biosensor will be on sale in a couple of years' time.
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have designed hardware and software that turns the iPhone into a powerful biosensor that's useful for toxin and pathogen testing as well as medical diagnosis.
Park, Lieber and several other noted nanotechies comprise the scientific advisory team and provide patents and consulting sessions. (The founders hold 20% of the company.) Bock wants Nanosys to build nanowire enabled modules--say, for a simple biosensor--which corporate partners could plug into more complex products.