North Carolina Group Developing Frack Fluid Tracing Technology

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From The Herald-Sun:
A young company is working out of laboratory space in the Research Triangle Park to develop tracers made of synthetic genetic material that would detect if fluids used in a natural gas extraction technique called “fracking” end up in drinking water.

The company, called BaseTrace, is working on synthetic DNA-based tracers that would be added to fluids used in a natural gas extraction technique called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in which pressurized fluids are pumped into wells and underground to fracture rock and release natural gas.

The idea is that BaseTrace’s tracer would be mixed in with fracking fluids, and would determine which well the fluid came from if detected in water samples. The team is now testing a tracer prototype, said Justine Chow, the company’s 24-year-old chief executive. They’re trying to push the tracer “to its limits,” she said, by testing it in extreme environments. They’re getting ready for field testing, she said.

Launched by a team of five who met as master’s students at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, the start-up moved in July into space at the First Flight Venture Center. The center, located in the Research Triangle Park, provides office and lab space for early-stage companies and entrepreneurs.
This is definitely very interesting.  Read the rest of the article by clicking right here.

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