Associate Prof.

 

Education

Research Interests

Biosensors and instrumentation

I am interested interactions at the molecular level which can be used to induce an electrically measurable signal. The resulting mechanisms can be used to build sensors for the measurement of many important molecules. Primary factors limiting the application of many biosensor technologies today are the expense, complexity, size, and the lack of sensitivity, linearity, specificity, stability, and speed. I am interested in innovating molecular techniques, engineering design, and electrical sensing technologies to improve any or all of these characteristics. Ongoing projects include research into optical and manometric transduction mechanisms sensitive to dissolved gases for use in a number of bioprocess applications, as well as the development of electrochemical sensors for various metabolites and to detect hybridization of DNA from select bacterial pathogens. We are also conducting some applied research into bioprocessing methods to derive energy and valuable products from various biological waste materials.

Our work has broad reaching implications, but is especially focused on providing technologies to help maintaining a safe and secure supply of food and other agricultural products, and to improve the efficiency of biological production in Hawaii and throughout the world.

Instructor For:

Activities and Memberships:

Awards

Refereed Publications

Reprints available upon request:

Jenkins, D. M., C. Song, S. Fares, H. Cheng, and D. Barrettino. 2009. Disposable thermostated electrode for temperature dependent electrochemical measurements. Sensors and Actuators, B-Chemical. 137(1):222-229.

Kutin, K., A. Alvarez, and D. M. Jenkins. 2009. Detection of Ralstonia solanacearum in natural substrates using phage amplification integrated with real-time PCR assay. Journal of Microbiological Methods. 76(3):241-246

Teruel, M. A., D. M. Jenkins, and J. I. Reyes-de-Corcuera. 2009. Crystallization of β-D-glucose and analysis with a simple glucose biosensor. Journal of Chemical Education. 86(8):959-961.

Fares, A., M. Safeeq, and D. M. Jenkins. 2009. Adjusting temperature and salinity effects on single capacitance sensors. Pedosphere. 19(5):588-596.

Jenkins, D. M., M. A. Teruel, J. I. Reyes de Corcuera, and O. Young. 2008. Simultaneous determination of hydrolysis and mutarotation rates during the enzymatic hydrolysis of lactose. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 56(18):8303-8308.

Kutin, K., D. M. Jenkins, and D. Borthakur. 2008. Characterization of a Corynebacterium strain that can grow in medium containing up to 2 M nitrate. Bioremediation Journal. 12(3):168-172.

Kubota, R., D. M. Jenkins, B. Vine, and A. Alvarez. 2008. Detection of Ralstonia solanacearum by Loop-mediated isothermal AMPlification (LAMP). Phytopathology. 98(9):1045-1051.

Jenkins, D. M., C. Zhu, and W. Su. 2008. A simple hybrid circuit for direct determination of fluorescence lifetimes. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 24(2):259-263.

Jenkins, D. A., E. Diaz, R. Goenaga, and D. M. Jenkins. 2008. Solar sterilization of abscised fruit: a cultural practice to reduce infestations of Anastrepha spp. around orchards. Journal of Agriculture of the University of Puerto Rico. 92:197-206

Fares, A., H. Hamdhani, and D. M. Jenkins. 2007. Temperature dependent scaled frequency to improve the accuracy of multisensor capacitance probes. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 71(3):894-900.

Jenkins, D. M., B. Chami, M. Kreuzer, G. Presting, A. Alvarez, and B. Y. Liaw. 2006. Hybridization probe for femtomolar quantification of selected nucleic acid sequences on a disposable electrode. Analytical Chemistry. 78(7):2314-2318.

Jenkins, D. M. 2004. Desorption as a rate limiting step for gas permeation through a polymer membrane. Journal of Physical Chemistry (B). 108(50):19325-19329.

Jenkins, D. M. & D. A. Jenkins. 2003. Digital detector array for the study of non-specifically tagged bees and wasps. Biosystems Engineering. 86(3):295-303.

Jenkins, D. M. & M. J. Delwiche. 2003. An immersible manometric sensor for measurement of humidity and enzyme mediated changes in dissolved gas. Biosensors & Bioelectronics. 18(9):1085-1093.

Jenkins, D. M. & M. J. Delwiche. 2003. Adaptation of a manometric biosensor to measure glucose and lactose. Biosensors & Bioelectronics. 18(1):101-107.

Jenkins, D. M., M. J. Delwiche, E. J. DePeters, & R. H. BonDurant. 2002. Factors affecting the application of on-line milk urea sensing. Transactions of the ASAE. 45(5):1687-1695.

Jenkins, D. M., M. J. Delwiche & R. W. Claycomb. 2002. Electrically controlled sampler for milk component sensors. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 18(3):373-378.

Jenkins, D. M. & M. J. Delwiche. 2002. Manometric biosensor for on-line measurement of milk urea. Biosensors & Bioelectronics. 17(6-7):557-563.

Jenkins, D. M. 2001. Manometric sensor to measure urea in milk for improvement of dairy cow nutritional management. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Davis. (Available on CD upon request)

Jenkins, D. M., M. J. Delwiche, E. J. DePeters, & R. H. BonDurant. 2000. Refinement of the pressure assay for milk urea nitrogen. Journal of Dairy Science. 83(9):2042-2048.

Jenkins, D. M., M. J. Delwiche, E. J. DePeters, & R. H. BonDurant. 1999. Chemical assay of urea for automated sensing in milk. Journal of Dairy Science. 82(9):1999-2004.

Patents