Environmental Tool Chest

摘要

When Diane Blake of Tulane University was on the shores of China's Yellow River during the summer of 1998, she would have found it useful to have a hand held, all in one immunoassay to test for cadmium. Unfortunately, there was no such kit in her "tool chest" of environmental testing methods, so she used the best test available: a more awkward enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (EEISA) that had to be performed in an open microwell plate. Many environmental scientists find themselves in Blake's position. They need convenient, low-cost assays that can be used anywhere. Over the past few years, that need has driven the development of a new generation of rapid, inex pensive, and portable multianalyte environmental immunoassays.