OT: Can tri-corders be far behind?
Mark L.
Thought the list might find this interesting.
Mark L.
72nd Wolf Pack
>From www.scidaily.com:
Institution: Scripps Research Institute
Contact: Robin Goldsmith , Public Information Officer
E-mail: rgol...@scripps.edu, Phone: (619) 784-8134
Posted 11/7/97
A Real McCoy 'Tricorder' -- Researchers Develop Affordable, Hand-Held
Biosensor For Diagnostics
A portable, hand-held biosensor capable of detecting a wide range of
medically important chemical compounds has been created by a team of
researchers from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) of La Jolla,
California and the University of California, San Diego.
The biosensor, which changes colors to signal the presence of specific
molecules, may represent a new type of practical and affordable device
for a variety of medical applications. Potential uses range from the
screening of chemicals for drugs to diagnosing illness at the bedside
without having to send samples to the lab.
The work, "A Porous Silicon-Based Optical Interferometric Biosensor,"
was published in today's issue of the journal Science.
According to M. Reza Ghadiri, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of
Chemistry and The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, TSRI, and study
co-author, "It is exciting to be able to adapt such inexpensive and
readily available material for use in this new technology. We are
hopeful that we will see commercial applications within two to five
years."
"One can envision something like a Star Trek medical 'tricorder' that a
nurse might bring to the bedside of a patient," said Michael Sailor,
Ph.D., professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UCSD, and co-author of
the study.
For non-trekkies, a medical tricorder is a hand-held device that
performs all the duties of a clinical laboratory, capable of sampling,
analyzing, reporting and otherwise diagnosing a patient's ailments.
"In the original television show, Dr. McCoy would point the device at a
patient and it would take a sample and read out all his problems,"
Sailor explained. "Our device was inspired by that image--a small,
sensitive diagnostic unit that is very easy to use."
Also collaborating in the study were Victor S.-Y. Lin, and Kianoush
Moteshari, researchers with TSRI; and, Keiki-Pua S. Dancil, a graduate
student in Sailor'slaboratory at UCSD.
As reported in the Science article, the new biosensor is able to detect
many of the classic biological reactions that involve the recognition
and binding of one molecule to another partner molecule.
In their tests, for example, the biosensor was able to match tiny
concentrations of specific DNA sequences to its complementary strand,
suggesting a potential role for a variety of genetic studies and tests,
including DNA fingerprinting for clinical and forensic applications.
Another biosensor proved sensitive to the binding of certain antibodies,
manufactured by the body's immune system, to small amounts of their
specific antigens--a class of molecules produced by invading organisms
that include viruses, bacteria, in addition to toxins and allergens.
The biosensor was able to detect DNA concentrations at levels of down to
9 femtograms per square millimeter. (A femtogram is a millionth of a
billionth of a gram.) By comparison, current technologies are only
capable of detecting amounts about 100 to 1,000 times greater than the
new biosensor.
"We have found nothing as simple or practical as this device with as
much sensitivity," said Ghadiri. "The results show that we can sense
very small molecules that in other systems do not produce a very big
change. In our system, we see a huge change."
The new biosensor is based on work conducted during the past few years
in Sailor's laboratory with porous silicon, small chips of silicon
sculpted through a chemical etching process into a forest of tiny trees.
When a one centimeter-square of this silicon forest is stretched out,
its surface area would be about as large as a standard desktop.e
discovery of some "new physics" inside the porous silicon film. Though
not fully understood, the scientists speculate that the binding of
molecules to the surface significantly alters the refractive index of
the silicon matrix itself, resulting in a major increase in sensitivity.
"It's as if the color of the film itself is changing because we induce
this change in the silicon nanoparticles," said Sailor. "So that's the
amazing thing. That was the Eureka thing."
Funding for the research was provided by the Office of Naval Research
and the National Institutes of Health
--
About this listserv: http://home.microserve.net/listserv
Acceptable Uses: http://www.naispa.org/aup
