Star Trek-style device could help spot 'rogue' genetically modified organisms in the environment

• Eco-warriors could soon get a sci-fi boost in the form of a handheld device for spotting rogue genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
• Researchers in the US are developing the devices, inspired by tricorders from Star Trek, to detect traces of GMOs which could leech into the environment, disrupting ecosystems.
• The technology could enable users to scan streams and rivers for modified proteins and DNA which could potentially cause damage.

Researchers at Rice University are developing a handheld device capable of detecting DNA and proteins from genetically modified organisms in the environment.

By sampling water sources such as streams, it can detect tiny amounts of target DNA - such as a specific gene from a GM-plant. 

It can also detect proteins, using antibodies to bind to them. 

According to the team, the aim is for the device to be used as a tool to detect the presence and amount of elements which could disrupt ecosystems. 

Genetic engineering has enabled farmers to boost their yields and produce resistant varieties of fruits and vegetables which would otherwise be ravaged by pests, disease or poor weather.

By finding the gene for a beneficial trait in one organism, such as drought resistance, and incorporating it into the DNA of a plant, it enables the plant to take on some of the same properties.

Despite the benefits, one of the major scientific concerns from environmentalists has been the potential for modified genetic elements to be transferred to non-GM plants and even animals in the wild.

A team at Rice University in Texas has been testing the effects of such GM-associated elements escaping into the environment and how to detect them.

Focusing on pest-resistant Bt corn – which has been engineered with a protein from a bacterium – they are measuring the levels of proteins and DNA which make it into the waterways from detritus such as husk, leaves and roots which could easily be spread in the environment by the wind or by animals.

Once these elements make their way into the system they could be incorporated into the ecosystem, with animals eating plant matter or being absorbed or assimilated by other plants and microbes.

Using laser arrays, the LTS detects proteins by using specific antibodies which stick to them. In the same way, it can be targeted to pick up on tiny amounts of specific DNA – such as a gene transferred to an organism – by using nanoparticles which bind to it (illustrated)

The device, which will detect smallest amounts of GM elements in the environment (illustrated) is being developed with experts in a variety of fields, including researchers at Notre Dame and Purdue universities and the Cary Institute of Ecosystem studies in New York

'Our hope is that this will be a tool useful at many stages of detection and applied to many different problems,' said Dr Scott Egan, a biologist at Rice University in Texas who is leading the project

He told MailOnline: 'We are designing this detection tool to be universally applicable to GMO detection in general, and only use Bt-corn as one possible example. 

'Early detection in the field is an important goal of our work, where we can find a possible problem early before it gets out of control, but we hope to be sensitive, high-throughput, and quantitative, such that the LTS can be used at any stage of detection.' 

The device is being developed with experts in a variety of fields, including researchers at Notre Dame and Purdue universities and the Cary Institute of Ecosystem studies in New York.

The team says that their device, called a light transmission spectrometer (LTS), was inspired by the Star Trek gadget used by the crew to scan alien atmospheres. Pictured is a tricorder prop used in the Star Trek series

It detects proteins by using specific antibodies which stick to them. 

In the same way, it can be targeted to pick up on tiny amounts of specific DNA – such as a gene transferred to an organism – by using nanoparticles which bind to it.

According to the team, the current version of the LTS can pick up on tiny amounts of target DNA, as little as 50 copies per millilitre of water.

Ultimately, they hope to get this down to less than 10 per cent of that concentration, to just three copies per millilitre.  

'We have these wonderful [genetic] technologies,' added Dr Egan. 

'We should also have the tools to detect them if they get outside their intended ranges.'

Dr Egan told MailOnline: 'The products from the proposed research will increase our fundamental and applied knowledge of the dispersal of [genetically engineered] organisms and [their] byproducts in a wide variety of aquatic systems, which benefits farmers, local stakeholders, natural resource mangers, and the general public.'