Disease diagnosis just got better

The early detection of life threatening diseases such as cancer, bacterial or viral infections is essential for effective treatment.

It is also crucial in the control of pandemics such as influenza and Dengue.

Now a research team at James Cook University funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council has successfully developed a new ultrasensitive diagnostic technology.

"Until now the diagnostic tools available to perform this task were not very sensitive," Dr Patrick Schaeffer, from James Cook University’s School of Pharmacy and Molecular Sciences said.

"The new ultrasensitive diagnostics technology platform is called ‘TT-lock-based rt-IPCR assay’ and is based on the use of a new nanodevice consisting of an antitarget protein linked to a barcode DNA sequence capable of specifically detecting minute amounts of disease markers present in serum," Dr Schaeffer, who heads the Supramolecular and Synthetic Biology group at the University, said.

Research scientist at the School, Dr Isabelle Morin, who has tested the prototype system on an influenza marker, said that this nanodevice would now be adapted to the ultrasensitive detection of various diseases which is the current focus of Dr Schaeffer’s group.

The findings of this collaborative research effort between James Cook University and the University of Wollongong were published in the journal Molecular BioSystems.

(Source: James Cook University: Molecular BioSystems: March 2010)