Genetic Testing Anywhere: Micro-sizes Hand-held 'Lab-on-a-chip' Devices Under De

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Genetic Testing Anywhere: Micro-sizes Hand-held 'Lab-on-a-chip'

Devices Under Development

http://medicalnewscenter.com/out/out.cgi?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080919183815.htm

Using new " lab on a chip " technology, Landers hopes to create a

hand-held device that may eventually allow physicians, crime scene

investigators, pharmacists, even the general public, to quickly and

inexpensively conduct DNA tests from almost anywhere, without need

for a complex and expensive central laboratory.

" We are simplifying and miniaturizing the analytical processes so we

can do this work in the field, away from traditional laboratories,

with very fast analysis times, and at a greatly reduced cost, " said

Landers, a University of Virginia professor of chemistry and

mechanical engineering and associate professor of pathology.

Landers published a review this month of his research and the

emerging field of lab-on-a-chip technology in the journal Analytical

Chemistry.

" This area of research has matured enough during the last five years

to allow us to seriously consider future possibilities for devices

that would allow sample-in, answer-out capabilities from almost

anywhere, " he said.

Landers and a team of researchers at U.Va., including mechanical and

electrical engineers, with input from pathologists and physicians,

are designing a hand-held device — based on a unit the size of a

microscope slide — that houses many of the analytical tools of an

entire laboratory, in extreme miniature. The unit can test, for

example, a pin-prick-size droplet of blood, and within an hour

provide a DNA analysis.

" In creating these automated micro-fluidic devices, we can now begin

to do macro-chemistry at the microscale, " Landers said.

Such a device could be used in a doctor's office, for example, to

quickly test for an array of infectious diseases, such as anthrax,

avian flu or HIV, as well as for cancer or genetic defects. Because

of the quick turnaround time, a patient would be able to wait only a

short time onsite for a diagnosis. Appropriate treatment, if needed,

could begin immediately.

Currently, test tube-size fluid samples are sent to external labs for

analysis, usually requiring a 24- to 48-hour wait for a result.

" Time is of the essence when dealing with an infectious disease such

as meningitis, " Landers said. " We can greatly reduce that test time,

and reduce the anxiety a patient experiences while waiting. "

Landers said the research also dovetails with the trend

toward " personalized medicine, " in which medical care increasingly is

tailored to the specific genetic profile of a patient. Such highly

specialized personalized care can allow physicians to develop

specific therapies for patients who might be susceptible to, for

example, particular types of cancers.

Simplifying genetic testing, and reducing the costs of such tests,

could help pave the way toward routine delivery of such personalized

care based on an individual's genetic profile.

Hand-held micro labs also would be useful to crime scene

investigators who could collect and analyze even a tiny sample of

blood or semen on the scene, enter the finding into a genetic

database, and possibly identify the perpetrator very shortly after a

crime has occurred.

Likewise, agricultural biotechnologists could do very rapid genetic

analysis on thousands of hybrid plants that have desirable properties

such as drought and disease resistance, Landers said.

" We can now do lab work in volumes that are thousands of times

smaller than would normally be used in a regular lab setup, and can

do it up to 100 times faster, " he said. " As we improve our techniques

and capabilities, the costs of fabricating these micro-analysis

devices will drop enough to employ them routinely in a wide variety

of settings. "

Landers even envisions home DNA test kits, possibly available for

purchase from pharmacies, that would allow individuals to self-test

for flu or other diseases.

His colleagues at U.Va. include Mathew Begley, professor of

mechanical engineering; Molly , assistant professor of internal

medicine, and Sanford Feldman, director of the Center for Comparative

Medicine.