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In November, at the annual conference for molecular pathologists, Clinical Micro Sensors demo'd the first-ever handheld DNA scanner. Zzzzp. Zzzzp. Within seconds, the 12-ounce device accurately detected HIV and hepatitis-C pathogens in blood samples. CMS may be a small operation, but, along with a handful of companies in the DNA-detection business, it threatens to render the blood lab obsolete.
Most DNA-testing technologies require cumbersome pre- and post-processing, but the CMS scanner gives nearly instantaneous results. A DNA chip inside the reader is coated with probes - single strands of specific DNA sequences - that bind to matching DNA in the sample. Simultaneously, signal probes labeled with a metal tag and added to the sample bind to the target. When electric voltage is applied to the chip, probes that have captured a target (and metal tag with it) generate a signal that can be detected.
CMS founders Tom Meade and Jon Faiz Kayyem first discussed their concept with Wired in 1997, when a perfected prototype was years away and investors were asking for a handheld model. The firm now plans to deliver a product for the research market by 2000 and a clinical version by 2002.
Kayyem cites a range of apps for the DNA chips: forensics, food-safety inspection, and biological-weapons detection. "We want," he laughs, "to be the Intel of biotech."
Original story: "Map the Genome, Hack the Genome," Wired 5.10, page 152.
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