Scientists from MIPT have created a new supersensitive biosensor based on graphene oxide

Scientists from the laboratory of nano-optics and plasmonics at MIPT have created an ultrasensitive biosensor based on graphene oxide . He will be able to help create new drugs and vaccines. According to scientists, this is a fundamentally new chip that allows you to test drugs outside of a living organism.

A fundamentally new chip based on graphene oxide allows testing drugs outside of a living organism. Technology can revolutionize the creation of new drugs and help doctors in the near future defeat incurable diseases.
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Marker-free biosensors allow the detection and investigation of chemical properties of substances at very low concentrations. At the same time, there is no need to attach markers to the sample molecules (usually they are fluorescent or radioactive) in order for this substance to become visible for devices.

The development of the scientists of the Physics and Technology Institute is based on the use of surface plasmons - electromagnetic waves arising at the interface between the conductor and the dielectric as a result of the resonant interaction between photons and electrons. Due to the fact that the parameters of the resonance critically depend on the properties of the surface, it is possible to detect a very small amount of the substance present on it.

For example, on a site in a square millimeter, such a sensor can find a trillionth gram of substance. At the same time, a device based on a similar sensor can monitor the reaction of molecules in real time.



“With their help, we can track how one or another chemical reaction goes, we can evaluate its speed, which means we can accurately determine how a particular substance acts on a cell, on a pathogenic bacterium,” says one of the authors of the study, Yuri Stebunov . - This means that in the near future, preclinical testing of drugs can be carried out in a fundamentally new way - to accurately predict the effect of the drug, it will suffice to trace the interaction of drugs with living tissue directly on the biosensor. This is a revolution in the creation of new drugs: biosensors will significantly increase the effectiveness of preclinical research and, possibly, in the near future will help to overcome the still incurable diseases. "



The sensor chips that now exist — thin plates measuring centimeter per centimeter where the samples under study are deposited — are made mostly of glass covered with a thin layer of gold. The sensitivity of the biosensor depends on the properties of the surface, that is, on how many molecules of the analyte can join the plate.

Graphene is considered a promising material for biosensors: it has a large surface area, is cheap to manufacture, and also interacts with a large number of biological molecules. Stebunov and his colleagues created and patented a type of chips coated with graphene oxide.

Measurements have shown that a graphene-based sensor is three times more sensitive than a dextran-based chip and 3.7 times that of a sensor on pure graphene. This means that a new chip requires several times smaller molecules to detect a particular substance. In addition, such a sensor after washing with alkali can be used several times, and it is also cheaper and easier to manufacture.



“Our chip can be used in the development of drugs for infectious, oncological and other types of diseases,” says Stebunov. “Therefore, we are counting on serious interest from pharmaceutical companies in our development.” This sensor can also be used to control the quality of products, in the search for toxins and allergens, in medical diagnostics, which will help reduce the time for performing tests from day to minute. "

Before being introduced into clinical practice, a number of improvements and tests will be needed. When mass production of biochip on graphene oxide can cost less than $ 10. Biochips existing on the market cost from 80 to 200 dollars.