Nanopore materials can be used to detect methylation of DNA, which could suggest the presence of cancer:
University of Illinois researchers have designed a high-resolution method to detect, count, and map tiny additions to DNA called methylations, which can be a early-warning sign of cancer. The method threads DNA strands through a tiny hole, called a nanopore, in an atomically thin sheet of graphene or other 2D material with an electrical current running through it. Many methylations packed close together suggest an early stage of cancer, explained study leader Jean-Pierre Leburton, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Illinois.
There have been previous attempts to use nanopores to detect methylation (by measuring ionic changes), which have been limited in resolution (how precise the measurement is). The Illinois group instead applied a current directly to the conductive sheet surrounding the pore. Working with Klaus Schulten, a professor of physics at Illinois, Leburton's group at Illinois' Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, they used advanced computer simulations to test applying current to different flat materials, such as graphene and molybdenum disulfide, while methylated DNA was threaded through.
Detection and mapping of DNA methylation with 2D material nanopores (open, DOI: 10.1038/s41699-017-0005-7) (DX)
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Friday April 14 2017, @06:25PM
Sample a few cells through biopsy, measure DNA methylation and get a deterministic reading on suspicious activation or attenuation of DNA sequences used?
The killer app ought to be if one autosample over the whole body and track down exactly where these changes has occurred and if this device could be made really cheap to buy a personal one.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 14 2017, @07:31PM
Many methylations packed close together suggest an early stage of cancer
This will not be useful as a diagnostic test for cancer, especially when you consider the difficulty in identifying and sampling cells at an early stage (they probably mean grade, as "stage" would already indicate the presence of cancer).
DNA methylation alone, has not been shown to induce cancer formation and it would be easier and more reliable to simply look at the common mutations in oncogenes/tumor suppressors and genomic shuffling that happens as cancer develops.