Tracking cancer biomarkers
ChemSci Pick of the Week
A new study represents a step forward in the development of technology for diagnosing cancer.
The technology is based on microRNAs – small nucleic acids that play an important role in the development and progression of cancer and other diseases. Because particular microRNAs are associated with certain cancers, they can act as ‘biomarkers’. In other words if we can detect and follow the presence of microRNAs, we can detect the presence of cancer and follow its progress.
Niko Hildebrandt, from Université Paris-Saclay, explains that while there are many technologies to measure microRNAs, each of them has its own challenges. The hunt is on for a new technology that could enable us to use detection of microRNAs in real life scenarios – to diagnose and track cancer in real patients.
Dr Hildebrandt and his team have used a system called FRET (Förster resonance energy transfer), which involves a pair of molecules that react and emit fluorescence in the presence of microRNAs.
"This work may be a big step forward in translating microRNAs into routine clinical practice and research", says Dr Hildebrandt. "It could therefore improve cancer diagnostics, cancer medicine and cancer research, and everyone may have access to a better standard of cancer diagnostics in the future – 5 to 10 years from now is probably a realistic time frame."
This article is free to read in our open access, flagship journal Chemical Science: Xue Qiu et al., Chem. Sci., 2018, Accepted Manuscript. DOI: 10.1039/C8SC03121E. You can access all of our ChemSci Picks in this article collection.
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