Super-twisted
24 Nov 2010 by Evoluted New Media
Light that has been twisted like a corkscrew and then twisted even tighter has been used by Scottish scientists to probe incredibly small samples.
Light that has been twisted like a corkscrew and then twisted even tighter has been used by Scottish scientists to probe incredibly small samples.
A team from the University of Glasgow used a polarising filter to twist ordinary light like a corkscrew, before shining it onto a specially shaped piece of gold to create the world’s first super twisting light. The light – which up until now had only been theorised – can be used to find protein traces in minute samples of blood.
“We are very excited by this research,” said Dr Malcolm Kadodwala, senior lecturer in the school of chemistry, “Essentially, this twisted light, which does not exist naturally, allows us to detect biological materials at unprecedented low concentrations.”
Kadodwala said the light has been particularly good at detecting the structure of amyloids – insoluble proteins that stick together to form plaques – associated with degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and CJD.
“We are now looking at see if this same technique can be adapted to detect a wider range of proteins which are indicative of other diseases,” Kadodwala said, “The fact this method requires much less material for analysis than current techniques and used a form of light previously unrealised is a big step forward.”
The powerful twisted light has numerous potential applications in biosensing and could be used to detect particular types of virus which have similar structures.
