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The future is “nano”: with new methods to detect cancer earlier than has been possible so far by using nano-sized gold particles. Researchers are embracing challenging micro- and nano-technologies all over Europe.
In Barcelona a leading European research group is developing a low-cost molecular detection tool: the “Biofinger”. They are developing tiny chips that could detect a huge variety of substances, from cancer cells to chemical ingredients. The “Biofinger” system could be able to detect certain cancer cells much earlier than it is possible today. Together with research groups in Ireland and Switzerland, Bausells and his team are taking their idea further and further towards a detection system that would combine the capabilities of a whole analytical laboratory on a single chip.
At the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Technologies in Sankt Ingbert near Saarbruecken, a team of European researchers is using nanotechnology differently to improve diagnostic capabilities: in the “Adonis”-project, nano-sized gold particles are used to detect prostate cancer cells at an early stage.
Thomas Velten and his team at the IBMT have developed a tooth implant that is at the same time a reliable dosage system for medications.
Micro- and Nanotechnologies promise to be key applications in medicine and the environment in the future, but their development is still only at the beginning. Treating diseases at a molecular level is still some way down the road, but researchers in Europe are developing the tools to make it possible one day, while also assessing the possible risks of these promising new technologies.