Quebec, Canada – Researchers from the Genome Quebec Innovation Centre and McGill were able to develop a breakthrough technique in analyzing long Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) molecules, allowing faster diagnosis of diseases like cancer and pre-natal conditions.
The collaboration of the two institutions, along with its respective researchers Professor Sabrina Leslie, Walter Reisner, and Dr. Rob Sladek resulted to the development of a new tool. The breakthrough technique was described in detail in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The tool enabled the team to load long DNA strands into a tunable nanoscale imaging chamber. The procedure maintained the DNA’s structural identity, and under certain conditions were similar to that of the human body.
Called the Convex Lens-Induced Confinement (CLIC) allowed the research team in mapping large genomes rapidly. Simultaneously, the tool helped them in identifying certain gene sequences. The entire process could play a significant role in a faster diagnosis of diseases.
Individuals with pre-natal conditions and cancer need urgent care from health experts and even from urgent care clinics so as to get immediate treatment. However, detecting such conditions could take a lot of time normally, leading to complications and fatality. Thus, the newly-developed could help throughout the diagnosis.
The existing tools used in analyzing genomes largely depend on side-loading DNA, a process that involves pressure and oftentimes breaks the molecules. But the new CLIC tool is capable of maintaining the integrity of DNA molecules.
Diagnostic procedures that will make use of the new technique will be faster. Considered as an urgent care near me technique for patients, the CLIC is vital in diagnosing the onset of any cancer as well as various pre-natal conditions, the researchers said. Procedures and tools that offer faster diagnosis of diseases likely result to immediate prevention and treatment.
Dr. Sladek said the new approach is efficient in working with single cells, unlike current techniques of genomic analysis. Through a single cell, necessary information may be obtained. In an urgent care clinic study, researchers used to stitch maps of genomes, but with the CLIC, both time and effort are conserved, because the entire process is simpler yet more efficient.
The team of researchers strongly believes that nanoscale physics contribute largely to both biomedicine and diagnostics. Professor Leslie emphasized that the CLIC is only the beginning of genomics and the nanoscale regime. CLIC certainly offers faster diagnosis of diseases, sparking hopes that succeeding developments would lead to faster treatment of different conditions.
