Breakthrough in cancer testing as researchers develop high-speed detection

Spanish researchers have made a breakthrough that could detect cancer in hours using cheap and easy mobile test kits.

Scientists from the Center for Genome Regulation in Barcelona have shown that nanotechnology can be used to analyze ribonucleic acid (RNA) present in ordinary blood samples and detect abnormalities indicating the existence of certain cancers.

The new technique involves passing RNA molecules through tiny pores in a membrane causing measurable alterations in an electrical current, and it could lead to significant advances in disease diagnosis in the developing world due of its simplicity.

“Our goal is to further develop this technology and combine it with artificial intelligence tools to determine the malignancy of a biological sample in less than three hours, and at a cost of no more than 50 euros per sample,” said Dr. Eva Novoa, senior study author and researcher at the Center for Genomic Regulation.

The nanopore sequencing machines required for the technique are small, lightweight, and can be powered by a laptop computer or portable battery, making them easy to transport to remote sites and enabling their use in the field or in the clinic.

“It’s a very affordable technology and so it offers opportunities to bring sequencing to the field,” Dr Novoa told The Telegraph.

Dr. Novoa noted that, in the case of cancer, it is possible to detect not only its presence, but also the stage of the disease without a biopsy requiring a laboratory test.

So far, the Barcelona team has worked on detecting lymphomas, breast and bowel cancers, but the technique is likely to be useful for detecting other diseases as well.

Technique “exciting and rich in information”

RNA molecules are present in all living cells, with different types of RNA having different functions.

The Center for Genomic Regulation research team works with transfer RNA (tRNA), which links a messenger RNA sequence to its corresponding amino acid, ensuring that proteins are assembled correctly according to DNA instructions.

tRNAs are considered “information-rich” molecules with enormous potential for disease diagnosis. Mis-sequenced tRNA is known to be a biomarker of various human diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.

But, until now, analyzing tRNA molecules to look for such irregularities required complex and expensive methods, taking weeks to provide a result.

“For the first time, we can study tRNA abundance and modification profiles simultaneously,” said Dr Novoa.

In addition to creating diagnostic tests for diseases, Dr Novoa said the nanopore sequencing technique will open many avenues of research with tRNA, examining how molecules are affected by different diseases and drugs, and examining the potential for using tRNA in future therapies.

“This technique will be very useful. I’m really excited,” she said.

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