Nanobot Glows to Indicate Disease

Mar-02-16 A nanobot that glows in the presence of disease could lead to faster diagnostics—and therefore faster treatment.

Developed by a team from Brock University, the nanobot is equipped with long DNA strands tuned to a specific disease, and short DNA strands holding a compound that will fluoresce if the strands are cut. When the long strands come in contact with cells holding the target DNA, they will cut off the shorter strands and trigger the glow.

The team tested the bot in a blood sample containing tuberculosis DNA, where the strands reached their brightest illumination after twenty minutes—much faster than the typical 24 hours required to receive a diagnosis using conventional methods. And since the strands can tailored to identify a range of diseases, the bots could very usual in detecting other diseases, including Ebola, cancer and heart disease.

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[POPSCI.COM]
[BROCKU.CA]

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