A researcher affiliated with Johns
Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology has developed a highly sensitive
test using quantum dots to detect external chemical modifications to DNA called
methylations. Alterations to DNA that do not involve a change in the genetic
code, yet can influence gene expression, fall into the emerging science of epigenetics.
 | | Jeff Wang, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, and biomedical engineering doctoral student Vasudev Bailey examine samples of modified DNA during a new test designed to detect early genetic clues linked to cancer. Photo by Will Kirk |
The nanotechnology based test for epigenetic markers could be used as an early
detection method for cancer or to determine whether a particular cancer treatments
is working or not. The research was performed by INBT affiliated faculty member
Jeff Tza-Huei Wang, an associate professor of mechanical engineering from the
Whiting School of Engineering, and Stephen Baylin, deputy director of the Johns
Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. Their findings were published in the August 2009
issue of Genome Research. Read the full story from Johns Hopkins University
News and Information here: releases.jhu.edu/2009/08/17/new-dna-test-uses-nanotechnology-to-find-early-signs-of-cancer/
The Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology (INBT) at Johns Hopkins
University brings together researchers from:Bloomberg School of Public Health,
Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, School of Medicine, Applied Physics Laboratory
and Whiting School of Engineering to create new knowledge and new technologies
at the interface of nanoscience and medicine.
Posted August 25th, 2009
|
