Molecular diagnostics at home: Chemists design rapid, simple, inexpensive tests using DNA
Chemists at the University of Montreal used DNA molecules to developed rapid, inexpensive medical diagnostic tests that take only a few minutes to perform. Their findings, which will officially be published tomorrow in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, may aid efforts to build point-of-care devices for quick medical diagnosis of various diseases ranging from cancer, allergies, autoimmune diseases, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and many others. The new technology may also drastically impact global health, due to its low cost and easiness of use, according to the research team. The rapid and easy-to-use diagnostic tests are made of DNA and use one of the simplest force in chemistry, steric effects - a repulsion force that arises when atoms are brought too close together - to detect a wide array of protein markers that are linked to various diseases.