Researchers working to develop inexpensive paper that can destroy, deactivate and detect deadly pathogens, such as salmonella and SARS, shared their expertise with the world at the first ever international conference on bioactive paper in Espoo, Finland. More than 80 science, industry and government representatives, including a 25-member Canadian delegation, met in the city northwest of Helsinki for the conference, which took place in late-June.

Bioactive paper is a product that includes functionalities based on the selective reactions of biomolecules, such as enzymes or antibodies. The application possibilities are extensive and consist of indicators or sensors attached to filters, food product packaging or personal health diagnostics. In printed intelligence applications, the paper's competitiveness lies in the fact that it is biodegradable, which is important in terms of sustainable development.

The field of bioactive paper research, led by Canada's SENTINEL Bioactive Paper Network and Finland's VTT Technical Research Centre, is focused on conducting the research and working with SENTINEL's industrial partners: Buckman Laboratories, Ahlstrom, FUJIFILM Dimatix, Stora Enso, Sun Chemical, FPInnovations PAPRICAN, Weyerhaeuser and Cascades Canada. Projects are underway to develop paper products such as masks that detect and deactivate airborne pathogens like SARS and work is also being done to make food packaging that could signal the presence of bacteria such as E. coli or salmonella.

The key elements of SENTINEL's vision are:

• Paper giving instant visible indication of pathogens.
• High speed manufacturing using inexpensive coating and printing technologies.

Expected outcomes include:

• Inexpensive, high-speed methods for applying pathogen-sensing biopolymers onto fibres and paper;
• Nano-scale control of biosensor orientation in or on paper, maximizing the efficiency of expensive reagents;
• New approaches to stabilizing fragile biosensor molecules when applied to paper;
• Defining optimized paper structure and surface chemistries for pathogen-sensing, capture or barrier applications;
• Novel biocides for bioactive paper; and
• New pathogen sensors based on combinations of antibodies, enzymes, aptamers or phages.

“Imagine the global impact when a strip of paper can immediately identify the presence of contaminates in drinking water. This innovation will save countless lives and billions of dollars in health care costs,” says SENTINEL scientific director Robert Pelton, Canada Research Chair in Interfacial Technologies and professor of chemical engineering at McMaster University.

“This conference will work on finding solutions to some of the technical challenges that still exist, but the paper's development is foreseeable in the not too distant future,” Pelton added.

Some of the paper's development challenges include further enhancement of biosensors and refining printing methods to enable low-cost use of common printers. The conference's scientific presentations will explore the latest research in these and other related areas, and will include a tour of VTT's research and development facilities specializing in biotechnology and paper coating and printing.

The host of the conference, government-owned VTT, was joined by representatives from Helsinki University of Technology, Åbo Akademi University, University of Lapland, the Finnish funding agency Tekes, as well as several industrial partners.

The Canadian team is comprised of SENTINEL researchers representing 11 Canadian universities, industry and government partners.

SENTINEL was formed in 2005 with $7.5 million in funding over five years from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Another $3 million is being contributed by collaborating partners such as the Ontario Centres of Excellence - Centre for Materials and Manufacturing and the National Research Council of Canada - Institute for Biological Sciences. McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario hosts SENTINEL's administrative centre.

For more information about bioactive paper visit www.sentinelbioactivepaper.ca

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