Intracellular biopsy technique for fast microRNAs profiling in living cells
Wednesday, June 10, 2020 - 13:20
in Biology & Nature
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are gaining more attention in studies of human diseases such as cancer, because changes in miRNA expression are frequently associated with abnormal cellular functions. To achieve fast and highly sensitive profiling of miRNAs, a research team from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has developed a novel intracellular biopsy technique that isolates targeted miRNAs from living cells within around 10 minutes using diamond nanoneedles. The technique is simple and can be applied to other studies, from the nucleic acid testing of viruses (e.g., SARS-CoV-2) to early cancer diagnosis.