Tuesday, 19th December 2006 (4212 views)

Gold-coated nanocantilevers can be used to detect the activity of a gene involved in controlling tumour growth in humans, according to new research from the Swiss Nanoscience Institute.

Writing in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, the research team from the Swiss institute in Basel claims to have been able to use gold-coated nanocantilevers to detect genes by attaching the gold coating to a short stretch of single-stranded DNA.

The DNA binds specifically to messenger sequences produced by the 1-8U gene, which is produced by human melanoma cells.

And the optical sensors which are attached to the tiny silicone cantilevers are just 500 nanometres long, 100 wide and 450 nanometres thick.

The importance of this find relates to the identification of biomarkers for diseases involving tumours. The technology is now a "rapid method" to validate the biomarkers, which reveal disease risk and the effect of any treatment.

Writing in the journal, the scientists said: "We foresee cantilever arrays being used as a tool to evaluate treatment response efficacy for personalized medical diagnostics."

 

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