The molecular chip can detect interactions at the single molecule level in real time, future advances could include many high-throughput applications.
Roswell Biotechnologies has successfully created the first molecular chip. It uses single molecules as sensor elements in a circuit. It boasts unlimited scalability in sensor pixel density, according to an article published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The next generation of medicine will come with a greater understanding of molecule communication and interactions. New technologies will possess unprecedented personalization capability as well as ways to make information available.
New molecular sensing technology
The chip uses biosensing on a programmable semiconductor chip. Arrays consist of an electrical current meter monitoring a molecular wire, while the sensor itself is programmed using an attached probe molecule. The sensor can capture molecular interactions data with resolution never managed before.
The goal for the chip is to make the next step towards more responsive medical tools. The scale offers potential for smaller, faster tests and instruments, including rapid Covid-19 testing applications and drug discovery. In addition, the solution could make it easier to accelerate the scale of molecular testing.
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Molecular chip applications
The PNAS paper outlines several applications for next-generation healthcare and medical. Because the molecular platform can detect interactions at the single molecule level in real time, future advances could include directly reading DNA sequences or other high throughput applications.
The chip was developed by Roswell Biotechnologies and a multidisciplinary team of scientists. It’s the culmination of a 50-year sprint towards the absolute limits of Moore’s Law. It leverages the body’s natural communication response, molecules signaling each other. Up to now, existing measuring sensors couldn’t pick up this signaling. Now, researchers have created a method that monitors this molecular communication. The Roswell ME chip presents a first of its kind technology with a range of biosensing and omics measurements.
