Tech Transfer: Lab on a Chip

Guests: Aaron Hawkins, Ph.D, Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at BYU; Mike Alder, Director of BYU’s Technology Transfer office. More information about technology developed at BYU is available at techtransfer.byu.edu  A major hurdle in the fight to prevent disease outbreaks like Ebola—or the spread of drug-resistant bacteria—is the time it takes to identify the problem. The results of a blood test can take several days to come back, during which you might be taking an antibiotic that’s not helping because you’ve got bacteria resistant to that drug. In the case of Ebola, often by the time the virus is evident in a blood test, you’ve already got a serious problem on your hands.  And so, scientists are working to come up with faster, cheaper tests. BYU Micro Engineering professor Aaron Hawkins has spent ten years coming up with what amounts to a “lab on a chip.”