Mixing up smart fluids and killing off malaria

A PROJECT on building safety carried out by three students from Marist College, Athlone, Co Westmeath, looks at “smart fluids” that can help prevent building collapse in an earthquake.

Darren Allen, Mark Bass and Emmet Donnelly, three 16-year-old fifth-year students were looking at magnetorheological fluids (MR fluids), liquids that, when exposed to a magnetic field, change instantly from liquid to solid. There are a number of “smart fluids”, explained Emmet, some of which when struck by a force become solid.

MR fluids can be used to dampen building sway during an earthquake, but they are too costly for many developing countries. “The main aim of our project was to make less expensive MR fluids,” said Mark. “They are very expensive and that is a problem.”

Just 100ml of one commercial MR fluid costs more than €50.

There are various recipes for these substances but all make use of iron powder mixed into a liquid with various additives. The three Athlone students developed a recipe using either vegetable oil or 3-in-1 oil as a base, with the iron powder and some lithium grease.

Their version cost just over €5, a tenfold reduction in cost even though it was just as effective when placed in a magnetic field.

They also designed a multi-storey structure and showed how the MR fluid could be used to dampen building sway to reduce the risk of collapse. Even first-world countries such as Japan rely on other methods to protect building, including the use of steel reinforcing.

The students believe that their approach could be cost-effective and better able to prevent the horrific loss of life when buildings collapse during an earthquake.

Similarly important research has been carried out by Thomas Dunne, a 17-year-old fifth-year student from Colaiste Lorcain, Castledermot, Co Kildare. He did a detailed study of a form of malaria that kills one million people worldwide every year.

There are several species of malaria, but one in particular, Plasmodium falciparumis especially deadly, causing 80 per cent of cases and 90 per cent of deaths, Thomas explained. He decided to try and find out why this species above others is so dangerous by comparing it to less harmful forms of the organism.

A Swiss database held the full genetic information for these organisms and he used powerful computers based at NUI Maynooth to look for extra genes that might make P falciparumso dangerous. He also had to write his own computer programmes to help in his search, which eventually identified 15 extra genes present in the organism but not found in the less harmful forms.

He then went back to the genome databases looking to see what these 15 genes did within the organism and identified three in particular that helped P falciparumsurvive.

Thomas’s discovery is very important because it reveals new ways to attack the organism, information that is particularly valuable to drug companies or as a platform for further research.

"As a secondary student I have brought it as far as I can," he said. "The next stage is [university] thesis work." He found that one protein helps the organism to live and divide while in the human liver and this could be used as a way to attack P falciparum.