LOL, vague is a bit too strong.
"In the current study, the researchers extracted vapor samples from e-cigarettes and smoke from
tobacco cigarettes using an artificial inhalation technique. Cigarettes were connected to a tube that contained a cotton plug. The researchers then used a syringe at the other end of the tube to replicate inhalation. Samples came from the chemicals captured in the cotton."
"UConn chemists tested e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes for potential
dna damage caused by a known carcinogen (NNK) at different inhalation rates – 20, 60, and 100 puffs.
I guess they found what they expected. "Sound" science?
Seems more like UConn wants to pimp out the 3d printed assay they created; "Ohh pretty lights!"
"The device uses micropumps to push liquid samples across multiple ‘microwells’ embedded in a small carbon chip. The wells are pre-loaded with reactive human metabolic enzymes and DNA. As the samples drop into the wells, new metabolites that have the potential to cause DNA damage are formed. Reactions between the metabolites and the DNA generate light that is captured by a camera. Within five minutes, users can see how much relative DNA damage a sample produces by the intensity of the light detected in each well. The device is unique in that it converts chemicals into their metabolites during testing, which replicates what happens in the human body, Kadimisetty says.
Bioassays currently used to determine the genotoxicity of environmental samples may be more comprehensive, but they are also time-consuming and costly. The lab equipment alone can cost tens of thousands of dollars. The array developed at UConn provides an important initial screening tool for genotoxicity in just minutes. The chip central to the device is disposable and costs only a dollar to make, thanks to recent advances in 3-D printing.
“What we developed is very cheap to make, efficient, and can be used by almost anyone,” says UConn chemistry professor James Rusling, the senior researcher on the study.
Affordable and efficient “labs on a chip” is a specialty of Rusling’s lab, which has previously created miniature arrays that can detect
antibodies to food allergens and
cancer biomarker proteins. Rusling says similar arrays could potentially be used for quick genotoxic screening during drug development, for monitoring or testing fresh water supplies, and for the early detection of aggressive forms of cancer."
cheers
I
