Lab-in-a-box developed at U of Alberta performs quick genetic tests

[Guest guest]

http://ca.news./s/capress/080129/technology/technology_cyberfile_gene_t\

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Tue Jan 29, 9:26 PM

By Dean , The Canadian Press

EDMONTON - It's nicknamed lab-in-a-box - a portable one-stop-shop for

genetic testing.

" We have the ability to implement a tremendously wide range of tests

on a standard platform and do it quickly and inexpensively, " said

Backhouse, a professor at the University of Alberta's electrical

and computer engineering department.

" The key to this is to integrate, shrink and automate. "

Backhouse, oncology professor Pilarski and others at the

university have developed a $1,000 shoebox-sized device that can carry

out genetic tests and deliver results in under half an hour.

It has received international acclaim and has been written up this

month in The Analyst, a scientific journal published by the U.K.-based

Royal Society of Chemistry. The royal society publication Chemical

Science has heralded the device as being on the leading edge of

combining nano-and bio-technology.

Backhouse says the device has the potential to revolutionize

front-line health care, given that genetic testing to date has been

hampered by high capital and labour costs that put tests into the

thousands of dollars.

The system centres around a new microchip developed at the

university's micro and nano fabrication facility. The chip can work

with mere molecules of a sample and combine them with other

electronics to perform an analysis in 25 minutes.

Tiny channels, valves and reaction chambers are embedded on the chip

to perform tests that are analyzed by an optical assembly that

includes a laser diode and a camera. The device is just as accurate as

equipment currently used for standard genetic testing, said Backhouse.

" The parallel with the computer industry is overwhelming, " said

Backhouse, referring to how speed and miniaturization made computer

technology universally accessible.

The impact on a doctor's office could be significant, eliminating

guesswork when diagnosing a coughing, headachy patient to determine if

he or she has the flu, Ebola, SARS or simply a sniffle.

" With a 25-minute test it becomes feasible for someone to just wait

while you find out - and if they had that information our health-care

system could be dramatically more effective, " said Backhouse.

Health-care professionals could also easily test for the genetic

signature of a virus or E. coli, which could make it valuable in

determining water quality, he said.

The project has been in the works for a decade and has been funded

from a number of sources including the federal government's Western

Economic Diversification agency as part of a more wide-ranging project

dubbed the Alberta Cancer Diagnostic Consortium.

" This is an excellent example of how we can help generate health and

economic benefits, " said Donna Kinley, the agency's regional manager

of communications.

Kinley said the agency has invested $2.5 million to help create and

market the lab-in-a-box and has committed more than $33 million to

other life science initiatives.

That includes the Neuroarm project with the University of Calgary,

which is focusing on using miniaturization to allow for more precise

and accurate surgery.

Another is a three-dimensional hologram of the human body to allow

students to see how all the body's organs and systems work together.

As for Backhouse's team, the work is not over.

He said they're still working on lining up companies to produce the

device commercially but couldn't say when it would be in production.

In the meantime, they are working on prototypes for improved genetic

testers that are squished down to the size of a fist and, eventually,

to a USB key.

" In about six months we'll have something that's literally three chips

and an LED and nothing else, " he said.

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Oh this is great news! I have been waiting for something like this to

come into being for years. Not so much to be tested myself, but to take

the genetic testing 'monopoly' off specific labs.

I really appreciate your 'finds' on good research news. Hope your still

doing great with the job and are staying warm despite winter snows.

Gretchen