Early warning systems for contaminated water and poor air quality

Researchers at Siemens and the biotech company Bionas in Rostock, Germany, are developing early warning systems for contaminated water as well as poor air quality. The researchers are developing these early warning systems on the basis of selected cell cultures on silicon chips. Cell censors are ideally suited to this purpose because they react to changes by altering their metabolism. By using the chip as a signal converter, necessary measures can be taken on the basis of this information.