University of Idaho offers relief for astronauts – Chip would keep drinking water safe from e.coli

University of Idaho researchers are designing a computer chip that would keep e.coli out of astronauts’ drinking water.

Becky Kramer
Staff writer Spokesman Review

This week, the researchers learned NASA is contributing $30,000 to the research.

Packing for a space shuttle trip is a bit like packing for a long back-packing excursion, said Ron Nelson, an electrical engineer at UI’s Center for Advanced Microelectronics and Biomolecular Research in Post Falls.

Each ounce counts. So, instead of carrying large supplies of fresh drinking water on long space missions, waste is treated and turned into drinking water, Nelson said Friday.

The chip would be used to detect e.coli and other bacteria present in the drinking water. It would help keep the water supply safe.

Current testing systems take about 24 hours. UI researchers want to develop an instantaneous test.

"This would be something that would be real time," said Josh Branen, a UI research associate.

The $30,000 grant will pay for the first stage of the research, said Wusi Maki, assistant research professor. The center has applied for a second NASA grant of $500,000 to continue the work.

The chip will combine two specialties of the UI center in Post Falls — electrical engineering and molecular biology. The research concept of a chip that could detect bacteria in water is still quite new, Maki said. Other universities have published papers about the potential for such a chip.

"Our focus is not to publish papers," Maki said. "We need to make this chip work."

The center’s work on the chip has drawn interest from other federal agencies as well. The research team is also doing work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture on food safety, and the Centers for Disease Control on bioterrorism.

UI’s Center for Advanced Microelectronics and Biomolecular Research was established last year in Post Falls. Researcher Gary Maki — who is Wusi Maki’s husband — heads the staff, which has an international reputation in computer chip design.

• Becky Kramer can be reached at (208) 765-7122 or by e-mail at [email protected].

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