Compare the use of biosensors with traditional methods of determining microbial contamination.
What will be an ideal response?
Traditional methods of detecting microbial contaminants rely on collecting samples containing living microbes and being able to culture them in the laboratory. The need to provide the right growth conditions reduces the sensitivity of such tests. Waiting for the organisms to grow makes traditional methods time consuming.
Biosensors use bacteria or bacterial enzymes to detect small amounts of contaminants in samples. The results are available in minutes rather than hours or days. Detection does not rely on properly anticipating an organism's growth requirements. Biosensors can also be designed to distinguish between closely related organisms, for example, by detecting whether a toxin is present in the sample. Biosensors are faster and more sensitive than traditional methods, and they are potentially more effective in distinguishing truly harmful microbes from their harmless close relatives.
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Fossils are predominantly found in ____
a. metamorphic rocks b. igneous rocks c. sedimentary rocks d. crystalline rocks e. radioactive rocks
The above figure is of ____
a. Arthrobotrys. b. a parasitic fungus. c. a fungus attacking a nematode. d. a sac fungus. e. all of these.
For some seeds to germinate,
a. they must first be exposed to a critical low temperature for a certain length of time. b. they must be exposed to proper environmental conditions of temperature and moisture. c. something must remove the restrictive seed coat. d. something must remove the hormones that promote dormancy. e. all of these must occur.
When you have waxed your car, rainfall makes very large droplets that roll around on the hood. This property of the water molecule is known as
A. turgor pressure. B. transpiration. C. negative pressure potential. D. adhesion. E. cohesion.