Good news for three research professors at the University of Georgia. Professor Richard Dluhy in the chemistry department of Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, as well as Professors Stephen Tompkins and Ralph Tripp in the College of Veterinary Medicine received a grant of more than 1.1 million dollars to continue research various strains of the influenza virus. The funds were supplied by the National Institutes of Health. It is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and is the countries’ medical research agency.

They will use the money to work on a technology that would use laser light beams to predict possible strains of the flu. The method is called nano-optical detection, and will allow researchers to create vaccines for certain strains of the flu before an outbreak even occurs.

Grady Newsource will speak with Professor Dluhy on Thursday to find exactly what nano-optical detection entails, and how it could save thousands of lives. Be sure to check back and see how this new technology could work.