Scientist finds grass with biosensor property! -

It may be a commonly-found variety of grass, but its responses to different stimuli is amazing the scientists and the lay person alike. In fact, a close study will ensure far-reaching thermal, mechanical and sensory applications in future, say the experts.

‘Pandimullu’ (Aristida paniculata) is a bristled grass akin to the one used in typical broomsticks. When dipped in water, the stem rotates 360 degrees clockwise and when heated, it rotates anti-clockwise. It also responds when exposed to blood, urine, acid, alkali and petrol. While Mimosa pudica (Touch me not or attipatthi) and sunflower also have sensory properties while alive, but this grass reacts even two years after it is plucked.

The amazing discovery was made not by any acclaimed biologist, but surprisingly by a philosophy postgraduate Galla Chandrasekhar. A native of Karakollu village in Thottambedu mandal of Chittoor district, Mr. Chandrasekhar and his band of childhood friends B. Chiranjeevulu Naidu, D. Bathi Naidu, G. Bhaskar, B. Murali, P. Venkateswarlu, P. Sivaiah and G. Sridhar are known in the vicinity as “rural scientists”, as they go into the woods and come back with new findings, be it new plants or new applications of known plants.

A student of science in Intermediate Mr Chandrasekhar shifted to commerce in degree and later ended up studying M.A. Philosophy, but he always “missed science”. “Nature has a solution to all problems and science helps identify it,” he told The Hindu humbly. His study on ‘Herbal preparation for controlling nematode and other pest crops’ fetched him an award from National Innovation Foundation, India, which he received from its chairman R.A. Mashelkar at Rashtrapathi Bhavan in 2013.

When tested under high-tech gadgets in Sri Venkateswara University labs, the grass displayed amazing movements. “It acts as biosensor and hence can gauge changes in temperature and the pH (acidity) of solutions. While other plants move in a single direction, this plant has multidirectional movement and this property has several applications,” says D.V.R. Saigopal, professor of virology and coordinator of DST-PURSE (Department of Science and Technology - Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence) centre at SVU. “The grass showed tremendous response to temperature and liquid, but the movement was minimal when subjected to magnetic field,” added physics professor O. Mahammad Hussain, who studied it under the optical and scanning electron microscope.

Finding the grass transformed thermal energy into mechanical energy, Mr. Chandrasekhar indicated that when incorporated in an electric circuit, it could be used in fire alarms and water level monitors in tanks and reservoirs.

The grass offers a lot of fodder for the scientific fraternity in the form of futuristic applications.

The grass has futuristic applications in fire alarm, water level monitor

Source : The Hindu