The technology, they point out, could be used to manufacture small portable devices that screen genetic material in the doctor’s office. Likewise, this technology will also be used to detect the presence of infectious diseases.
According to the authors, "we have developed a system for detecting genetic and infectious diseases that is thousands of times more sensitive and specific than other current alternatives."
Currently, one of the obstacles to DNA analysis in the clinic is that the methods are based on PCR or similar systems whose use is not practical outside the laboratory.
That and other obstacles would be overcome with the new technology, which uses electrodes, tiny gold particles – nanoparticles – and synthesized DNA.
According to the company Nanosphere Inc. – which will be in charge of commercializing the technology – the detection system is ten times more sensitive and 100,000 times more specific than current DNA analysis systems.
