Measuring the lipid production of algae is necessary to assess its utility for biofuels manufacturing. Bioengineering students Pratyush Iyer and Jonah Sachs are developing a label-free, hand-held, low-cost device to measure the dielectric properties of algae cells in solution for easy lipid quantification during the culture period.
Methods: Algal cell culture, spectrophotometer estimations, Nile Red fluorescence imaging, coding and data analysis, electrical engineering
A low-cost, high-yield lipid sensor can boost algae biofuel production. Bringing it closer to a real alternative to fossil fuels.
