Researchers develop revolutionary technology for genomic analysis of long DNA molecules -
Researchers at McGill University and the G-nome Qu-bec Centre innovation achieved a technical breakthrough that should result in faster diagnosis of cancer and various prenatal conditions.
key discovery, described online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ( PNAS ), is a new tool developed by professors Leslie Sabrina Walter Reisner and the Physics Department at McGill University and their collaborator Dr. Rob Sladek of innovation Qu-bec Center G-nome. It allows researchers to load long strands of DNA into an imaging chamber nanoscale tunable so as to maintain their structural identity and under conditions which are similar to those found in the human body.
This newly developed "Convex Lens-Induced confinement" (LINC) will allow researchers to rapidly map large genomes while at the same time clearly identify the specific gene sequences of individual cells with a single molecule resolution, a process which is essential for the diagnosis of diseases such as cancer.
CLIC, the new tool can remain above a standard inverted fluorescence microscope used in a university laboratory. The innovative aspect of LINC lies in the fact that it allows DNA strands to be loaded into the top imaging chamber, a method that allows DNA strands to maintain their integrity. Existing tools for genomic analysis based on DNA side-loading under pressure in nanochannels in the imaging room, a practice which breaks the DNA molecules into smaller pieces, making it a challenge to rebuild the genome.
"It's like squeezing many sweet spaghetti noodles into long narrow tubes without breaking them," says Professor Leslie as she describes what it is like to use CLIC. "Once these long DNA strands are gently pressed down into nanochannels a hot nanoscale above, they actually become rigid which means that we can map the positions along the uniformly stretched DNA strands, while still holding them. This means diagnostics can be performed quickly, one cell at a time, which is essential for the diagnosis many prenatal conditions and the onset of cancer. "
" the current practice of genomic analysis typically require tens of thousands of cells in a genomic material value to obtain the information we need, but this new approach works with individual cells " says Dr. Rob Sladek of Qu-bec innovation Centre G-nome. "CLICK allow researchers to avoid having to spend time assembling whole genome maps as we do in current techniques and promises to make genomic analysis of a much simpler and more efficient process. "
" Nanoscale physics so much to offer biomedicine and diagnostics, "says Prof. Leslie. "CLIC brings the regime at the nanoscale to the bench, and genomics is just the beginning."
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