Scientists have developed a nano gadget which they claim could diagnose a number of diseases in a single liquid sample and give an instant result.
A team at Pennsylvania State University created the gadget, a microchip, by coating a series of nanowires with DNA sequences which match those from the disease-causing bacteria or viruses -- whether hepatitis or HIV.
According to the scientists, if DNA from one of those pathogens is present in a sample, it will bind to the nanowire with the matching sequence, a process that changes the wire's conductivity, the New Scientist reported.
"Our DNA-coated rhodium nanowires 'feel' the electric field at a distance and are drawn towards the region spanning our guide electrodes until they reach a microwell, which they then snap into due to the higher field strength there," team leader Christine Keating said.
The process is very accurate, with nanowires slotting into the right place 99 per cent of the time. And, having many nanowires for each disease is important for avoiding any false negatives and false positives, the scientists said.
In tests, the team created a chip that was able to detect the presence of DNA from hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV, although it signalled a positive match by glowing, rather than using electrodes.
A full prototype with the transistors necessary to read out the conductivity of individual nanowires is currently in progress.
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