Immunoglobulin-Based Biochips:Next Diagnostic Revolution
Biochips have been used for years in gene research, for the purpose of DNA sequencing and testing, but there may be a more mundane use and one of more immediate application - automating blood and urine testing for diagnostic purposes.
"A biochip is a collection of miniaturized test sites (microarrays) arranged on a solid substrate that permits many tests to be performed at the same time in order to achieve higher throughput and speed. Typically, a biochip's surface area is no larger than a fingernail. Like a computer chip that can perform millions of mathematical operations in one second, a biochip can perform thousands of biological reactions, such as decoding genes, in a few seconds."While use in diagnostic testing is hypothesized, we are still largely in the area of gene screening, according to an article in "Hospital Practice". Perhaps automating "normal" diagnostic tests is seen as financially unwise? Arguably, it would put today's diagnostic business in a turmoil.
Keep the genie in the bottle seems to be the motto. IBC Life Sciences is a specialized research and communications company that offers a range of services to pharmaceutical manufacturers, including biochip development and new-drug research. Having organized yearly conferences on biochip technology since 2001, the company has surprisingly cancelled the 2005 BioChips conference. They do ask for feedback on this form to see what professionals would like their conference to be looking into.
Meanwhile however, Russian scientists seem to be progressing well in the diagnostics field, according to an article by Yuri Amosov and others.
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Innovation Success Stories - Part II
By Yuri Amosov, Irik Imamutdinov, Galina Kostina, and Dan Medovnikov
Originally found on www.gateway2russia.com
Western venture capitalists repeatedly declared their genuine interest in Russian scientists and researchers but had no dealings with them, at least not in Russia itself. Many good innovation projects failed to become investment projects. Things seem to have changed this time.
Biochips, not labs
The Immunoglobulin-Based Biochips project was recognized as the Most Promising Project. The creation of biochips - micro-units screening for a vast array of human diseases - is a revolutionary achievement in biotechnology of recent years. A biochip in the form of a tiny plastic plate (5-10 mm across) holding up to several thousand different micro-tests, enables medical practitioners to detect several thousand pathogens, allergens, carcinogens, biologically active substances from medicines to drugs, and genetic defects all at the same time. The technology of protein biochips could replace entire immunology laboratories and increase the productivity of most diagnostic methods by thousands or even tens of thousands of times, radically reducing the cost of medical tests.
Although the first protein biochips were created back in the early 1990s, researchers began to deal with them most actively in the last three years. Scientists from the Hematology Research Center at the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences in conjunction with the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics are working on a set of devices that produce biochips and monitor their quality, as well as instruments and software for reading the biochip.
One of the innovators' main scientific achievements is a method for applying protein solution to a matrix. Instead of the usual application technique by tiny, automatic arms, the project proposes the electric evaporation method. It enables scientists to manufacture thousands of microchips at once and save on both protein solution and production time (1 mcl of the solution is sprayed onto 100,000 points for 30 seconds). In addition these microchips are much smaller than existing ones, which would reduce the costs of producing and reading the chips by several times.
For the time being, developers are focusing on biochips to detect infections of the urethra and genitals, as this market is huge. Given the value of biochips and biochip-related services, the outlay for production, market research, and advertising could be repaid in two years.
The potential applications for biochips go far beyond medicine. The chips can be used in environmental studies to detect hazardous substances or in criminal investigations to find drugs, poisons, or explosives and for personal identification purposes. After the project presentation at the competition, the promotion fund decided to finance it as part of the Start Program, and AFK Sistema awarded it a special bonus.
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See also:
Microscopic brain imaging method developedTesting the Waters
Sensicore has developed a "lab-on-a-chip" sensor that enables fast and inexpensive monitoring and profiling of water quality.Researchers Create DNA-Based Sensors for Nano-Tongues and Nano-Noses
Nano-sized carbon tubes coated with strands of DNA can create tiny sensors with abilities to detect odors and tastes, according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Monell Chemical Sciences Center. Their findings are published in the current issue of the journal Nano Letters, a publication of the American Chemical Society.URI to develop 'lab-on-a-chip' technology
Imagine an entire biotechnology laboratory reduced to the size of a pea and placed on a computer chip. While not yet a reality, that technology for detecting small particles in micrometer-sized channels – called microfluidics -- will soon revolutionize research into new pharmaceuticals, early detection of infections, and other health-related fields. The University of Rhode Island has been awarded a highly competitive $2.4 million grant by the National Science Foundation to develop this technology and identify potential applications in partnership with the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany.New Microlab on Chip for Medical Imaging Biomarkers
A collaboration among scientists at UCLA, the California Institute of Technology, Stanford, Siemens and Fluidigm has developed a new technology using integrated microfluidic chips for simplifying, lowering the cost and diversifying the types of molecules used to image the biology of disease with the medical imaging technology, positron emission tomography (PET).
posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Wednesday August 24 2005
updated on Sunday December 5 2010URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2005/08/24/immunoglobulinbased_biochipsnext_diagnostic_revolution.htm
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