CarderPlanet
Professional
- Messages
- 2,552
- Reaction score
- 684
- Points
- 83
Introducing a device that detects DNA faster than you can make coffee.
When doctors want to know if a patient is suffering from a particular disease, they can test the patient's blood or urine for the DNA of a particular virus or bacterium, or for a mutated version of the patient's own DNA. The new device should make this process much faster and easier.
One of the problems with modern electronic DNA detection methods is that the target DNA can initially be present in low concentrations. As a result, electrostatic and electrochemical signals produced by other molecules in a blood or urine sample can drown out the characteristic signals produced by DNA.
That's why a team of scientists from the University of Massachusetts Amherst has created a new sensor that is claimed to be 100 times more sensitive than existing technologies. The compact, portable, and low-cost device includes a graphene-based transistor to which all the strands of DNA in the sample are attached. When these filaments are exposed to an alternating electric field, they oscillate in place. If the sensor detects a unique oscillation frequency that is already known to be produced by the target DNA, it informs the user of the presence of DNA in the sample.
The method can detect even very low concentrations of DNA and provide results in just a few minutes, while existing methods can take weeks or even months.
It is expected that with further development, the technology will find other potential applications. "The nanomechanoelectric approach can also be integrated with other bioengineering technologies, such as CRISPR, to identify the pathways of nucleic acid signaling, understand disease mechanisms, identify new drug targets, and create customized treatment strategies, including therapies targeting microRNAs," said lead researcher Jinglei Ping.
When doctors want to know if a patient is suffering from a particular disease, they can test the patient's blood or urine for the DNA of a particular virus or bacterium, or for a mutated version of the patient's own DNA. The new device should make this process much faster and easier.
One of the problems with modern electronic DNA detection methods is that the target DNA can initially be present in low concentrations. As a result, electrostatic and electrochemical signals produced by other molecules in a blood or urine sample can drown out the characteristic signals produced by DNA.
That's why a team of scientists from the University of Massachusetts Amherst has created a new sensor that is claimed to be 100 times more sensitive than existing technologies. The compact, portable, and low-cost device includes a graphene-based transistor to which all the strands of DNA in the sample are attached. When these filaments are exposed to an alternating electric field, they oscillate in place. If the sensor detects a unique oscillation frequency that is already known to be produced by the target DNA, it informs the user of the presence of DNA in the sample.
The method can detect even very low concentrations of DNA and provide results in just a few minutes, while existing methods can take weeks or even months.
It is expected that with further development, the technology will find other potential applications. "The nanomechanoelectric approach can also be integrated with other bioengineering technologies, such as CRISPR, to identify the pathways of nucleic acid signaling, understand disease mechanisms, identify new drug targets, and create customized treatment strategies, including therapies targeting microRNAs," said lead researcher Jinglei Ping.
