Frog Peptide-Based Antimicrobial Sensors Test Infections

Princeton University scientists have devised a novel sensing device that has the potentiality to revolutionize the way in which the medical equipments and drugs were previously examined for detecting the infections associated with it. The researchers have now deployed frog skin to achieve this.

The new chip employs amino acid chains from African clawed frog’s skin, which has antimicrobial property, to generate electrical signals when the medical equipments and drugs encounter the bacterial contaminants. The same peptides are used by the frogs to defend themselves from any sort of infection. The frog peptide-based sensor identifies a broad range of pathogenic bacteria, such as E. coli and salmonella.

Till recently, the infections have been detected deploying the blood of a particular crab species that are 450-million-year-old. Since this unique species are facing the threat of extinction, scientists are seeking another replacement. As the African clawed frog is available in plenty and reproduces rapidly, the sensor fabricated out of this source will provide a new practical standard towards infection testing.