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Cyanide Detection

Cyanide poisoning can kill within 30-minutes.  Having a quick, easy means of detecting exposure can save lives.  Brain Logue, associate professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at South Dakota State University, and his team have developed a sensor that will detect cyanide poisoning in less than a minute through a National Institutes of Health/Department of Defense grant.  The current clinical standard is a 24-hour lab-based test.  The new technology would be used by emergency rooms and first responders.  A post-doctoral student on the project, Randy Jackson explained that multiple prototypes have been constructed and Logue's team is currently working on miniaturizing the sensor for portability.