Scientists detect disease with gold-based nanostructures

A group of scientists has found a way to detect disease using a nanoscale gold structure. The pores in the gold act as a kind of sieve for the detection of pathogenic micro-organisms.

The material was developed by scientists at the University of California at Davis. They describe a nanostructure built on the basis of gold atoms that can be used to detect whether pathogens are present from blood samples, for example. The structure of the gold atoms, which the scientists describe as a kind of sponge, contains small pores, with a diameter a thousand times smaller than that of a human hair. As a result, biological material can be ‘sieved’, as it were.

Specifically, the scientists want to be able to detect DNA and other genetic material with their nanomaterial. The pores are too small to allow proteins to pass through, for example, but the strand-shaped DNA molecules can pass the barrier. As a result, expensive laboratory equipment is no longer required to ‘clean up’ blood samples. Of course, equipment is still needed to detect exactly what genetic material is in the sample. As a result, the gold structure must be combined with other sensors for the detection of specific pathogens.

The scientists hope to be able to use their technology in mobile devices for the detection of diseases. This is possible, for example, with patients, but also in agriculture and horticulture. Such a device could, for example, quickly detect whether a plant is infected with pathogens. It is unclear when the scientists think they will be able to use their technology in practice.