Professor Yi Lu, along with postdoctoral researcher Yu Xiang, have found that glucose meters, when coupled with a class of molecular sensors called functional DNA sensors, can be used to monitor other molecules in blood, water, or food.
A glucose meter is one of the few widely available devices that can quantitatively detect target molecules in a solution, a necessity for diagnosis and detection, but only responds to one chemical: glucose. To use them to detect another target, the researchers coupled them with a class of molecular sensors called functional DNA sensors.
The researchers demonstrated using functional DNA with glucose meters to detect cocaine, the disease marker interferon, adenosine and uranium. The two-step method could be used to detect any kind of molecule that a functional DNA or RNA can bind.
Next, the researchers plan to further simplify their method, which now requires users to first apply the sample to the functional DNA sensor and then to the glucose meter.
“We are working on integrating the procedures into one step to make it even simpler,” Lu said. “Our technology is new and, given time, it will be developed into an even more user-friendly format.”
For the full UI News Bureau story, click here. For more information about Professor Lu, please visit his faculty page.
from the UI News Bureau