A càrrec de Laura M. Lechuga del Nanobiosensors and Bioanalytical Applications Group Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) CSIC, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology and CIBER-BBN Barcelona (Spain)
Abstract
The need to monitor and detect biological elements, related to human and environment health in a fast and reliable way, is one of the challenges faced by humanity at the dawn of the 21st century. Tests done nowadays in laboratories (as ELISA, PCRs, cell cultures, etc.) are slow (from several hours to days) and expensive. Modern diagnostics is demanding novel analytical tools that could enable quick, accurate, sensitive, reliable and cost-effective results so that appropriate treatments can be implemented in time, leading to improved outcomes. Such portable point-of-care (POC) devices, able to deliver an instant diagnostics, could become a reality soon thanks to the last advances in nanobiosensors, lab-on-a-chip, wireless and portable technologies which promise to surpass the existing challenges, opening the door to a global diagnostics access.
The driving force of our research is to achieve such ultrasensitive platforms for POC label-free analysis using nanophotonic technologies and custom-designed biofunctionalization protocols, accomplishing the requirements of disposability and portability. We are using innovative designs of nanophotonic biosensors based on silicon photonics technology (nanointerferometers) and full microfluidics lab-on-chip integration. We employ dedicated biofunctionalization routes of the biological receptors (as proteins or genomic strands) ensuring selectivity, life-cycle, non-fouling properties and reusability.
Moreover, we have demonstrated the applicability of our biosensor technology for real life requests, mainly for clinical diagnostics (i.e early cancer diagnostics), and for environmental control, with extremely sensitivity and selectivity, of marine pollutants directly using untreated sea water, microbiological infections and toxins.