Examples include brewer's yeast, baker's yeast, and our old friend L. acidophilus. When asked whether each microbial species shows a characteristic range of CZE responses analogous to an IR spectrum, Armstrong replied that the new technique's experimental conditions could be varied to produce different selectivities. One giant leap Figure 2. Medical microbe identification. Armstrong's group distinguished and identified two bacterial species in urine samples.
Immediate markets exist for Armstrong's technique, and indeed commercial interest has been high.
HEMS could, for example, readily adapt to monitoring antibiotics fermented by mycological action. Further, it could soon do so automatically. Armstrong sees a role for microchip-based devices in automating HEMS, and the group has applied for a patent on these devices. Armstrong's group is planning to approach the FDA about HEMS, a first step toward ultimate process certification. In HEMS, and even more so in the team that is developing it, Iowa State seems to have a winner.