A study by Taiwanese scientists involving nanotechnology has shown that newly invented biological markers can be used to help detect certain diseases and cancers, the National Science Council (NSC) said yesterday.
The technology involves embedding nanoparticles into cells which can then be monitored.
An NSC-sponsored team led by Chen Chia-chun (
According to Chen, cells marked by traditional organic fluorescent techniques are stable for only a few hours when monitored by special sensors.
"Our newly invented biological markers, however, can be sensed for about two days," Chen said at a press conference yesterday.
In other words, Chen said, his team's technologies improve stability as well as the sensitivity of biological detection.
Nanotechnology involves the creation and utilization of materials, devices and systems through the control and manipulation of matter at the nanometer scale, that is, at the level of atoms, molecules and supramolecular structures. A nanometer (one billionth of a meter) is about 10,000 times narrower than a human hair and about four times wider than an atom.
Nanomaterials can also be used as biological markers. A nanoparticle can be embedded in the wall of an individual cell that can then be monitored.
As the technology develops, nanoparticles attached using certain materials, such as sugar, might be able to locate damaged or cancerous cells.
Working with Lin Chun-cheng (
Meanwhile, assisted by Chen Chien-tien (
Chen said that his team had demonstrated that these biological markers could detect certain cells damaged by diseases or cancers.
Chen said an application for US patents was filed last year.
"Business opportunities are hidden behind the development of technologies pertaining to these biological markers," NSC vice chairman Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said.
Biological detection accounts for one third of medical industries in Taiwan, according to the NSC.
Vice chairman Chen said that the development of nanotechnology and biomarkers would ultimately provide a cost-effective and flexible germ-detection platform that would bring about a revolution in bioindustries.
Scientists say related technologies could be applied to the improvement of laboratory techniques, the production of biochips and detection instruments, medical image analysis and the invention of new drugs.
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