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Microalgae Sentinels: A Biodetection Tool for Heavy Metal Contamination in Water
A research team from the Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems ‘E. Caianiello’ of the CNR, with the contribution of the Anton Dohrn Zoological Station, has carried out an optical test to quantify the presence of copper in the waters of the Sarno river, evaluating its effects on microalgae. The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Researchers from the ‘Eduardo Caianiello’ Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems of the National Research Council (CNR-Isasi), in collaboration with the Anton Dohrn Zoological Station in Naples (Szn), have developed an optical test for detecting the amount of copper dispersed in water samples isolated from the Sarno River in Campania, the results of which have been published in the journal Scientific Reports.
The optical method developed by the research team is a functional one, because it does not merely identify the presence of the metal but is able to quantify its effects on the diatoms, the microalgae that have been used as biosensors, present in both fresh and salt water.
An innovative microscopy technique known as Fourier Ptychography was used to achieve this result. Using an LED light source, it is able to map thousands of microalgae in a single image with sub-micrometric…
