Nanotechnology can potentially transform molecular diagnostics from its current state of manual procedures or expensive equipment to routine, low cost assays for a broad range of microbial and cellular panels. As an initial step, this project will create nanoengineered materials that will uniquely simplify the process of nucleic acid preparation and amplification. The materials will serve as components in microfluidic """"""""lab on a chip"""""""" devices, enhancing the devices' current capabilities, but more importantly, allowing advanced designs to be fully integrated over an array of parallel targets. This project will combine Xtrana's proprietary metal oxides with the self-assembled, nanofabrication technology of Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) to create microscale frits that irreversibly bind nucleic acids. The DNA and RNA can then be enzymatically amplified while on the surface, without the inefficiencies and complexities of elution. The operational and multiplexing capabilities associated with these frits are key to routine, multi-target diagnostics. This project is a model collaboration between Xtrana's materials and molecular diagnostics expertise and SNL's innovative self-assembly methods to create membranes and other structures containing ordered arrays of nanoscale, metal oxide pores. Phase II will further develop and test the materials in advanced microfluidic devices to identify infectious agents and cellular polymorphisms.
Due to the ubiquitous presence of nucleic acids and the broad-based utility of an effective method of preparing DNA and RNA, the described materials would have commercial value in many areas. A list of the most prominent would include health care, biowarfare defense, food and water safety, environmental monitoring, screening for genetic predispositions, tissue typing, forensics, and parentage verification.
