Basque centres and Berkeley University develop nanosensor to detect diseases

 The science journal NanoLetters, published by the American Chemical Society and the most highly regarded publication in the field of nanotechnology, has picked up on this joint venture for the manufacture of both optical and electrochemical nanosensors. The achievement of the research team and the reason that the article came to the attention of NanoLetters lies in the fact that the sensor they have developed uses only one nanotransistor, whose cable is a simple carbon nanotube. This means that it is possible to detect DNA waves without having to modify them to increase the system's sensitivity.

The journal also notes that the detection of DNA has been used only as a concept test to study the viability of the sensors, and that a whole field of possibilities will open up in the coming years when nanobiosensors will be able to detect other types of molecules and we will be able to use them to study genetic illnesses.

The specific contribution of CIDETEC-IK4 has consisted of making the nanotube function via a polymer that allows DNA anchoring. This has proved vital, as the polymer is an essential element without which the nanosensor does not function.