The science of biomonitoring continues to develop new technologies to inform governments, industry and individuals about what chemicals get into the environment - and into us - that shouldn't be there.

Most of these monitoring techniques are expensive and complicated, and can take hours or days to produce results. I know, because I have had labs test me for detectable levels of hundreds of chemical toxins--pesticides, metals, flame retardants, and more--for a story published in 2006.,

Now a team of chemists at McMaster University in Ontario have published a paper in Analytical Chemistry that describes a new biomonitoring technique using treated paper on a stick that can quickly identify trace amounts of pesticides in your chicken soup, or your first early morning cup of joe.

As reported in R&D:

The scientists describe the development of a new paper-based test strip that changes color shades depending on the amount of pesticide present. In laboratory studies using food and beverage samples intentionally contaminated with common pesticides, the test strips accurately identified minute amounts of pesticides. The test strips, which produced results in less than 5 minutes, could be particularly useful in developing countries or remote areas that may lack access to expensive testing equipment and electricity, they note.

The current yawning gap between the availability of genetic tests for common diseases and their usefulness for patients is due in part to a lack of physician training and familiarity with these tests. Many DNA markers that convey a higher risk for diseases such as diabetes and heart disease are preliminary in terms of their true predictive power for individual patients. But so was the cholesterol test 20 years ago. It took years of using and understanding the cholesterol test--and the collection of data on thousands and later millions of patients--to establish a cholesterol threshold as an acceptable guide to a person's heart attack risk. This process needs to happen for genetic test as well.

A helpful step in bringing genetic testing into the exam room was announced today by Boston-based Beth Isreal Deaconess Medical Center and California-based Navigenics, an online genetic company that is emphasizing alliances with medical centers and has been pushing the idea of educating doctors. Here is the announcement run on GenomeWeb Daily News:

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) - Navigenics and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston announced today that they will collaborate on training physicians in personal genomic testing.

Beth Israel has launched the Personalized Genomics and Next Generation Sequencing Training Program, which includes a series of lectures, discussions, and presentations, aimed at promoting a better understanding of the personalized genomics field and next-generation sequencing technologies. Among the specific goals of the program are fostering an understanding of issues related to the evaluation of direct-to-consumer genotyping services and familiarizing physicians with the interpretation of genomic information and its correlation with personal medical and health information.

As part of the program, residents will be given the opportunity to have their own genomes analyzed through Navigenics' consumer genomics services.

"We believe that genetics and genomics will be critical to the future of health care," Mark Boguski, of BIDMC's Department of Pathology and the Center for Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School, said in a statement. "Training our residents on the leading genetic services and technologies will be essential to this future."

Last week Margaret Hamburg took time out during a health care summit at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio to talk to me about finding more money for the agency, making it tougher and stronger, and restoring the public's faith in the FDA.

Below are some outtakes from the interview. Margaret Hamburg was named in March by President Obama and confirmed in May as the 21st commissioner (and second woman) to head this agency that oversees $2 trillion of what Americans spend on products.

First, I want to restore faith and trust in the FDA as a science-driven agency. I want to be a vocal advocate for the resources we require. It's stunning how underfunded we are given the importance of what we do. 25% of every dollar spent by Americans is regulated by the FDA.

During a crisis we have to not be afraid to communicate rather than circle the wagons, which has happened before. We have been taking a very clear-eyed look at past problems to learn from those mistakes.

We're undermining our own best interests if we have a very robust investment in biomedical research and a scrawny investment in regulatory science and support for the FDA.

We are starting up a new center for tobacco products, and we've hired on a terrific new director. We will be moving forward on areas of labeling and issues around the marketing of tobacco products, especially marketing to youth.

Check out my complete interview with the new FDA commissioner here.