Synthetic antibody detects proteins
Using carbon nanotubes, MIT chemical engineers have devised a new method for detecting proteins, including fibrinogen, one of the coagulation factors critical to the blood-clotting cascade. This approach, if developed into an implantable sensor, could be useful for monitoring patients who are taking blood thinners, allowing doctors to make sure the drugs aren’t interfering too much with blood clotting. The new method is the first to create synthetic recognition sites (similar to natural antibodies) for proteins and to couple them directly to a powerful nanosensor such as a carbon nanotube. The researchers have also made significant progress on a similar recognition site for insulin, which could enable better monitoring of patients with diabetes. It may also be possible to use this approach to detect proteins associated with cancer or heart disease, says Michael Strano, the Carbon P. Dubbs Professor in Chemical Engineering at MIT. Strano is the senior author of a paper describing...