Genetic testing will enter an implantable era.

Now there are wearable devices that monitor heart rate, movement and blood sugar levels, and how good it would be if the human body's genetic mutations could be monitored continuously in real time.
with my limited IQ, I can think of applications including early screening for cancer and post-treatment monitoring.
if it's true, patients can keep abreast of their health.
that's wonderful.
didn't expect the Ratnesh Lal team at the University of California, San Diego, to make it happen.
's team's findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (1).
actually the device that Lal developed to detect specific genetic mutation sites (SNPs) in the human body.
scientists have also identified specific SNPs associated with cancer, diabetes, heart disease, neurological diseases, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Professor
Lal has developed an implantable chip that can detect disease-related SNPs in real time.
the chip's structure is also simple, that is, the special SNP probe can be found fixed to the graphene field effect transistor (field-effect transistor, FET), once the disease-related specific SNP appears, the probe will capture them, the electrical signal is generated in this instant.
the chip then sends a signal to the phone to alert the user of a genetic mutation associated with the disease.
this time, we should put down the work in hand, go to the hospital for further examination.
principle simply, the device does not seem to be much different from traditional DNA chips, except for the ability to monitor and send signals in real time in the future.
actually, this device is far from that simple, and it's all in detail now.
fine, it has three advantages that SNPs detection devices do not have today.
first, unlike a single-stranded probe from a traditional DNA chip, Professor Lal developed a two-stranded probe, only at the connection of the probe and the chip, and one segment is a single-stranded one. how
this two-stranded probe captures free DNA? Professor Lal modified the special probe, which is a normal chain attached to a graphene field-effect transistor that can capture DNA fragments carrying a particular SNP; another chain on the probe is shorter and modified to bind loosetor to the normal chain, which automatically falls off when the DNA fragments carrying the special SNP begin to bind to the probe from below.
According to Professor Lal, this design can greatly avoid the probe to scratch the wrong object, greatly improve the accuracy of the detection.
second, the design of connecting the probe to a graphene field effect transistor, which captures fragments of DNA carrying a special SNP, is successfully converted into electrical signals.
this is the first time in history that DNA dynamics and high-resolution electrical signals have been combined.
this combination has worked wonders, making it possible to use mobile phones to monitor specific genetic mutations in the body.
final, the double-stranded probe has a huge benefit.
is to design the probe for a long time.
have learned biology, the longer the probe, the more accurate the test results are.
the NgAgo gene editing technique discovered by Han Chunyu's teacher some time ago, because the guidance part is a little longer than CRISPR, the accuracy has suddenly increased thousands of times.
because Professor Lal is using a double-stranded probe, the probe itself does not bind, so the length of the probe can be greatly extended.
they used 47 base probes, the longest in sNPs history,
.
no doubt, the accuracy of the chip has been greatly improved. Preston Landon, co-author of the study
, says that current lying on SNPs requires complex equipment, and the process is relatively slow and expensive.
the chip they developed is relatively simple, fast, inexpensive, and even more so, it can be used in conjunction with mobile phones to monitor specific genetic mutations in the body in real time.
their research is still at an early stage, but they have taken the first step in monitoring genetic mutations in real time and sending them to mobile phones, according to Professor Lal.
they'll further optimize the technology and add wireless connectivity and transmission to the chip.
time is ripe, they will bring the chip into the clinic and conduct a liquid biopsy test.
Professor Lal believes their technology will lead to a new generation of testing and precision treatments.
the technology of the device, the invention is really exciting enough.
especially in the early detection of cancer and post-treatment monitoring, can give us unlimited imagination space.
and once the technology matures, it will also facilitate basic research on cancer, especially in the evolution of tumors.
but for now, it has some flaws. The most important thing
should be that there are few sites that can be monitored at the same time.
Source: Decoding Medicine.