NSERC
 

About Us

Vision

The cornerstone of the SENTINEL vision is bioactive paper that will detect, capture and deactivate water and airborne pathogens.

Our Vision of Bioactive Paper

Current events including SARS, water quality problems, incidents of tainted beef and international terrorism underscore our vulnerability to biological hazards. For the last century, paper-based sterile packaging, food wrap, face masks and protective clothing have played an important role in protecting us from pathogens. These applications exploit paper qualities, which include low cost, disposability, sterility and well-defined porosity. Nevertheless, in most protective applications, paper functions simply as a passive barrier or filter.

In September 2005, 24 top Canadian professors and their students at 10 universities across Canada, in partnership with the Canadian government, the Ontario government and nine corporate partners worked together and formed the Sentinel Bioactive Paper Network.

The key elements of our vision are:

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

Expected Outcomes

  • 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.

Presentation: SENTINEL – Canadian Network for the Development and Use of Bioactive Paper