Dr. Farzin Haque: Nanotechnology is quietly changing early detection of cancer.

Introduction: The concept of "nanotechnology" was first proposed by Nobel Prize-winning physics laureate Feynman.
half of the successes in the fight against cancer in humans have been due to early detection.
the emergence of nanotechnology, which makes cancer diagnosis earlier and more accurate, and can be used for treatment monitoring.
Xuanze Bio, the world's first company to conduct ultra-early detection of cancer using single-molecule detection technology based on protein nano-pores, has been actively promoting the clinical application of this innovative technology.
, the author had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Farzin Haque, the company's chief scientist, and asking him to share his story on nanotechnology.
1. The concept of "nanotechnology", which is related to nanotechnology, was first put forward by Nobel Prize-winning physics prize winner Feynman, and the convening of the first International Conference on Nanoscience and Technology in 1990 marked the official birth of nanoscience and technology.
in just over two decades, nanotechnology, one of the most ground-breaking strategic frontier technologies, has revolutionize in the fields of materials, healthcare, and the environment.
rise of nanotechnology also attracted Farzin Haque, who was a doctoral student at Purdue University at the time.
he had always wanted to make a difference in this field, so in 2008, after obtaining his Ph.D., he began actively looking for positions in nanotechnology, hoping to make the most of his expertise in membrane biophysics.
the same time, Farzin Haque noted the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Center for Nanomedical Development, led by RNA nanotechnology pioneer Professor Peixuan Guo, one of only seven NIH research centers dedicated to nanotechnology healthcare.
successful entry into the center, Dr. Haque was primarily responsible for developing nanopore systems based on phage Phi29 motor channels and applying them to disease diagnosis.
, he joined another center funded by the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Cancer Nanotechnology Alliance, led by Professor Guo Peixuan, to conduct research on RNA nanotechnology platforms for drug delivery.
During this time, Dr. Farzin Haque has made numerous scientific breakthroughs, in particular the design of a range of powerful RNA-based nano-transmission platforms that target therapeutic payloads (such as siRNA, miRNA, nucleases, chemotherapy agents) to cancer cells and are low-toxic and highly effective.
the past decade, while scientists have established a variety of cancer intervention targets, delivering drugs for these goals in the body has been challenging.
2, from the scientific research community to the industry, although the development of nano-hole platform for more than 8 years, but in order to turn mature technology into clinical, we must come out of the laboratory.
Farzin Haque knew this, so he joined pzbiology in 2016 using a nano-hole platform.
, recalling the decision, Dr. Haque said with a laugh, "It was a simple decision for me, and I know the true potential of nano-hole technology."
, when the opportunity came, I was happy to join Xuanze to complete the clinical transformation of this technology.
During his time as chief global scientist of Xuanze Bio, Dr. Haque officially completed the leap from "research" to "industry".
he says, "Researching in academia is very different from working in a company."
research is often open-ended, and I've been more involved in basic aspects of nano-hole platform development before.
in the company, we are more focused on clinical transformation, will drive technology to clinical applications.
Haque said Xuanze's progress is now largely on schedule.
company has an excellent management team in Shenzhen, the United States and Shenzhen has a strong multidisciplinary research background research and development team.
we have jointly formulated the company's strategic development goals and every development milestone, and strive to work tirelessly for product launch, optimization, service.
research and development is not an individual, but a team collaboration.
"It's a very important experience in Dr. Haque's work," and as a startup, it's hard to do everything on our own, and we need to build effective relationships with leading institutions and companies around the world.
Xuanze has worked in-depth with Oxford Nanocon in the United Kingdom, Element in Italy, Ohio State University in the United States, the University of Kentucky and the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Guangdong University of Technology and Sichuan University in China.
Farzin Haque has shared many valuable ideas in an interview with The New York Times on the main development directions in the field of nanomedical medicine.
, for example, the application of nanotechnology in the field of health care represents a new direction of development in modern medicine, and the field of nanomedicology is very widely used, there are many platforms for the use of different nanomaterials, how should we identify? In response, Dr Haque said: "Each platform has its own strengths and challenges.
from a diagnostic point of view, we need to develop a nanotechnology approach that can detect and screen multiple biomarkers on a single platform.
we also need to develop nanodiagnostic devices that preserve the integrity of captured biom molecules for downstream activity analysis.
from a therapeutic point of view, we need to see nanomaterials penetrate biological barriers and accumulate in target organs with minimal off-target effects.
we need to develop next-generation 'intelligent' nanosystructures with physiological triggers.
we also need to develop nanotechnology that can be used in cancer immunotherapy.
focus should be on turning mature technologies into clinical ones so that ordinary people can benefit from them.
"To do this, we need to have an in-depth understanding of the interactions between nanoparticles, nano-devices and biological systems, as well as continuously develop people in the field of nanotechnology research with medical applications," Dr. Farzin Haque has repeatedly stressed.
" In Dr. Farzin Haque's view, 2017 is arguably the first year in the field of nanomedical medicine, a year in which many major breakthroughs have been made, especially in the application of nano-hole technology.
he gave us two examples: the first was the use of portable Minion devices developed by Oxford Nanocons for human genome sequencing, which also meant that personalized sequencing-based medicine was about to become a reality.
nano-hole sequencing can address several key needs in healthcare, such as changes in gene expression and the accumulation of genetic mutation data in clinically effective and rapid manner.
emerging and rapidly developing areas of nano-hole applications is the diagnosis of diseases through the detection of highly sensitive and specific biomarkers.
a breakthrough worth mentioning, there is also the use of naturally secreted exosomes in disease treatment.
Farzin Haque, an exosome, is able to fuse with the cell membrane and deliver its loaded material to the cell efficiently.
, however, exosomes often lack specific targeting capabilities and can be nonsexually fused with many cells, so the main challenge of this technique is how to transform exosomes and apply them to targeted therapy.
recently, Professor Guo Peixuan's team published an article on Nature Nanotechnology showing the use of RNA nanotechnology to re-create external urology and apply it to cancer treatment.
the surface of the exosome can be modified with specific accessories to achieve efficient tumor targeting and the delivery of therapeutic substances, thereby inhibiting tumor growth.
Farzin Haque believes that nano-porous cancer detection and gene sequencing, RNA-targeted drug delivery systems, nano-medical robots, etc. will be the main development direction in the field of nanomedical science.
4, looking forward to making Xuanze into the world's top as the world's first company engaged in protein nano-hole-based single-molecule detection technology for cancer ultra-early detection, Xuanze Bio has been actively promoting the application of innovative technology.
, compared with the existing cancer detection methods such as imaging detection, tumor marker detection and gene detection, single-molecule detection technology based on protein nano-porous channels has many advantages.
Farzin Haque specifically states, "The platform enables joint real-time detection of multiple indicators, with the advantages of low cost, no trauma, high sensitivity, specificity, good repeatability, ease of operation, portable, short experimental time, etc.
" At the same time, the Xuanze team is developing a range of nano-hole platforms with high stability and detection capabilities, as well as new probes for biomarker detection, and is optimizing linking between components everywhere, as well as initiating the development of software for clinical use.
Farzin Haque expects clinical trials to begin in early 2019 and then products to be available in early 2020.
As the world's chief scientist for Xuanze Bio, Dr. Farzin Haque has also set himself a "small goal" for developing diagnostic devices, starting with clinical trials for a particular type of cancer, improving the high pass and accuracy of the devices as needed, and then launching products later.
then, in the near future, to other types of cancer as well as viruses, bacteria and fungal diseases.
the market will be concentrated in China before expanding into the United States and Europe.
Farzin Haque hopes Xuanze will become one of the world's leading biotechnology companies, focusing on personalized diagnosis and treatment based on nanotechnology.
that although the market will be very competitive, he believes that Xuanze's products will make a revolutionary contribution to the field of diagnostics.
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