NAERINGSPH-Nærings-phd

Microbes are able to eat many different substances, even crude oil and metals. In oil tanks, the oceans, soil and in deep oil reservoirs we can find bacteria that uses the oil and metals as food. From our point of view, they can be useful if they break down heavy oil molecules to smaller components that we can easily use as energy source, or if they take up metals so we can clean water in a smarter way. Some parasites are transported in water and are able to survive for long periods if they encapsulate themselves as cysts. Just a few cysts may be enough to make us ill if we drink water that contains these. Detection of these parasites in drinking water is easier if we are able to concentrate them before analyzing the water sample. This will give us detection that is more sensitive. In this project, we develop a solution for analysis so we can detect the organisms above. The system consists of two parts: one to pre-treat the sample and one for molecular biological analysis. The pre-treatment contains Trilobites hydrodynamic micro technology for particle separation in a microfluidic chip. This chip separates and concentrates the microorganisms. The analysis part is based on isolation of nucleic acid and NASBA. NASBA is an isotherm method to copy specific gene sequences. We have developed sets of primers and probes to find and detect the bacteria. Primers frame the chosen gene sequences, and probes with molecular beacons give fluorescent signals. These are specific for the organism, and bind only to the particular sequence were it is supposed to bind. We have made several promising primer and probe sets and tested them on the bacteria. Such sets can also be developed to detect other microbes in samples that the Trilobite microchips can concentrate, such as waterborne parasites. This industrial PhD project has focused on the biological part up until now, and will continue with increased focus on the pre-treatment of samples with Trilobites technology for separation of particles. Here we will make a unit that automatically takes out a sample of water that is tested, and prepares a representative sample for analysis.

Statoil's research center in Trondheim, in collaboration with SINTEF Materials and Chemistry among the most important institutions in Norway for studies of hydrocarbon-eating micro-organisms related to oil drilling, production and refining. SINTEF and Sta toil have together acquired much knowledge and experience related to what these microbes are, what properties they have and the communities they live in. There has been established a large strain collection of oil-eating micro-organisms isolated from a va riety of hydrocarbon sources. The opportunity has been created for a number of new inventions and useful technology that can increase profitability across the value chain of production of oil. NorChip AS, together with SINTEF (Mina Lab) and Vestfold Univ ersity College, is the most important institutions in Norway that can create and produce usable biological or chemical micro-and nano-system platforms. SINTEF (Mina Lab), Vestfold University College and the central German institutes (IMM and IMTEK), toget her with NorChip AS has developed important biological micro-and nano-systems that represents a key technology platform POCNAD that is under industrialization. The POCNAD technology is now oriented towards the accurate detection of at least 16 different R NA (mRNA, or microRNA 16SRNA) that is specific genotypic against any gene activity in bacteria or other organisms. POCNAD is now ready to be used by a doctoral candidate. Microrefining system and micro-optical devices have already been developed by Hive, Trilobite Microsystems AS and NorChip AS. Techni AS from Borre is an important player in terms of reducing cost and time until the finished products, in particular against the micro-and nanotechnology, and the Techni AS is responsible for developing a sam pler system that can be used to take samples from the fermentor/tank/seabed. ISentio AS has developed a complete software and database systems that will make the bioinformatics work available.