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Arrays of silicon nanowires with biomolecular coatings can spot molecular traces of cancer far more accurately, quickly and specifically than technology currently available to doctors, experts told UPI's Nano World.
"It's easy, quick, with low cost. The patient and the doctor can get blood test results within a few minutes," said researcher Charles Lieber, a Harvard chemist. "All you need is a drop of blood."
The microchip the researchers developed can hold up to 200 silicon wires, each 20 nanometers wide and roughly a micron long. The nanowires are coated with antibodies and nucleotides that latch onto compounds unique to cancers. The diameter of the nanowire is roughly that of these markers, so when a cancer molecule binds to a wire, the resulting change in conductivity across the nanowire is significant enough for researchers to detect.
The array is sensitive enough to spot cancer telltales making up just one-hundredth-billionth of the amount of protein in a drop of blood. For instance, in tests of extracts from as few as 10 tumor cells, the nanowire sensors could in real time monitor the activity of telomerase, an enzyme normally inactive in most of the body's cells but active in at least 80 percent of known human cancers.
phys.org
"It's easy, quick, with low cost. The patient and the doctor can get blood test results within a few minutes," said researcher Charles Lieber, a Harvard chemist. "All you need is a drop of blood."
The microchip the researchers developed can hold up to 200 silicon wires, each 20 nanometers wide and roughly a micron long. The nanowires are coated with antibodies and nucleotides that latch onto compounds unique to cancers. The diameter of the nanowire is roughly that of these markers, so when a cancer molecule binds to a wire, the resulting change in conductivity across the nanowire is significant enough for researchers to detect.
The array is sensitive enough to spot cancer telltales making up just one-hundredth-billionth of the amount of protein in a drop of blood. For instance, in tests of extracts from as few as 10 tumor cells, the nanowire sensors could in real time monitor the activity of telomerase, an enzyme normally inactive in most of the body's cells but active in at least 80 percent of known human cancers.
Nano World: Nanowires help spot cancer
Arrays of silicon nanowires with biomolecular coatings can spot molecular traces of cancer far more accurately, quickly and specifically than technology currently available to doctors, experts told UPI's Nano World.
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