Scientists Create New Nano-Sensors for Multiple Proteins

Scientists Create New Nano-Sensors for Multiple Proteins

Scientists at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have developed a new process that allows for the rapid identification of hundreds or thousands of different proteins. The new parallel protein analysis process is fast and inexpensive, and could allow for the rapid detection and identification of viruses, even with very small samples.

Professor Carsten Sönnichsen of the Institute of Physical Chemistry says the process could be used in medicine for rapid diagnoses and is almost as easy to use as a store-bought pregnancy test. A tiny sample of saliva, blood, or bodily fluid on a test strip is inserted in the device, which then quickly identifies the different proteins in the fluid.

The device developed by Sönnichsen’s team has a sensor the size of a pinhead. The sensor can carry out hundreds of tests on a tiny surface, and the test strips feature gold nanoparticles as sensor elements. The authors of the study suggest that low-cost production is possible if advanced nanofabrication methods are used. The study is to be published in the journal Nano Letters.

Source: http://phys.org/news/2013-07-chemists-nano-sensors-multiple-proteins.html