Research team to produce and study disease-detecting ‘nanopores’

A research team from the University of Texas at Arlington has received a $360,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to build artificial nanopores. These nanopores, made of silicon, are about 1,000 times smaller than a human pore on the skin. They detect ‘bad molecules’ as very early indicators of cancer and other diseases. The research team will run human blood-derived samples through the nanopores and record how the composition may change as a function of disease. This data will be used to determine abnormal levels of certain chemicals to identify if disease is present on a molecular level. “We’ll be able to detect even a few hundred copies of bad molecules to identify risks of diseases like cancer,” Samir Iqbal, who is leading the project, said. “That is very, very early detection.”