How about checking glucose levels without drawing blood? In a ray of hope for diabetics the world over researchers have developed a new biochip sensor that can selectively measure glucose concentrations in a complex fluid like saliva. A dependable glucose monitoring system that uses saliva rather than blood would be a significant improvement in managing diabetes. 'We have demonstrated the sensitivity needed to measure glucose concentrations typical in saliva which are typically 100 times lower than in blood' said Domenico Pacifici an assistant professor of engineering at Rhode Island-based Brown University. 'Now we are able to do this with extremely
