Possible Early Diagnosis

 

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) announced on July 16 that a research team led by Jung Ki-joon and Lim Sung-gab, professors of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at KAIST, successfully developed a technique to make a biosensor for the early diagnosis of highly-contagious diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, avian influenza, and swine flu.

To drastically reduce the manufacturing costs for biosensors and make those chips more portable, the research team coated polyethylene (PE) film and chromatography paper with polymer foam films via a solvent-free initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) process. They also succeeded in the immobilization of proteins through a chemical reaction between proteins and thin polymer films.

The research findings were published online in the July 7 issue of Polymer Chemistry, a monthly scientific journal published by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Professor Jung remarked, “Our method can produce more affordable and stable biosensors by replacing existing substrates with paper or vinyl and using similar antibodies.” He added, “It will be possible to rapidly diagnose highly contagious diseases like foot-and-mouth disease on the spot in the future.”

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