According to research published in the journal ACS Nano, researchers have developed a novel, rapid, and exact approach for identifying COVID-19 and breast cancer markers in blood samples.

In collaboration with Groningen University, Professor Jrgen Kjems and his research group at Aarhus University have made a remarkable breakthrough in developing tiny nano-sized pores that can contribute to better possibilities for, among other things, detecting diseases at an earlier stage.

Their study uniquely identified individual proteins in complex biological fluids such as blood without chemical tagging. The researchers, led by Prof. Jorgen Kjems and Mr. Giovanni Maglia (Groningen University), have taken this a step further by inventing a unique sort of nanopore called ClyA with scanner molecules called nanobodies linked to it.

In their investigation, the researchers used a DNA adaptor to link nanobodies to ClyA. They developed numerous distinct nanopore sensors that could detect various proteins of various sizes by employing a succession of nanobodies.

Lastly, the researchers built nanopores with specialized nanobodies attached that can detect the Spike protein of SARSCoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), a protein marker for breast cancer.

(Source:https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/small-nanopores-can-help-in-identifying-diseases-study/101056609 )