A new device for immediate extraction of human DNA

A new device makes it possible to analyze a person's DNA and determine the sequence of its components in just 2 minutes, simply by taking a saliva sample.

Engineers from the University of Washington, in collaboration with a private company, also from Washington, NanoFactory, have developed a device capable of extracting human DNA from liquid samples in a simple, efficient and more environmentally friendly way than with existing methods. The new device will provide hospitals and research laboratories with an easier method for separating DNA from human liquid samples, thus helping in sequencing the genome (determining the exact components of the genes ), in the diagnosis of diseases and in medical examinations.

"Extracting DNA is a very complex task," explains Jae-Hyun Chung, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Washington, who was responsible for this research. "When we think about the existing methods, it can be compared to collecting hair with a construction crane." The purpose of the new technology is to overcome such limitations.The device, produced as a small kit in the form of a box, is ready for distribution to hospitals, clinics and laboratories DNA from body fluids is a cumbersome process that has become the bottleneck in scientists' research in the fields of gene sequencing, especially for disease prevention and treatment. The market for DNA extraction alone reaches a turnover of 3 billion dollars per year. Traditional methods use a centrifuge to spin and separate DNA molecules, or filter from a liquid sample using a microfilter, but these methods take about half an hour and require the use of toxic chemicals very.

The engineers from the University of Washington developed microscopic detectors that are immersed in a liquid sample - saliva, phlegm or blood - while activating an electric field inside the liquid. This field causes the particles to concentrate around the surface of the tiny detector. Large particles hit the head of the detector and are deflected away from it, but molecules the size of DNA molecules stick to the detector and are captured on its surface. With this technology, the DNA can be separated and purified within three minutes. "This simple process eliminates all the other steps required by conventional methods," explains the lead researcher. The manual device can purify four separate liquid samples at the same time, and at the same time the technology can be adjusted to provide the possibility of testing 96 samples at the same time, when this is the most common amount in laboratories that perform daily tests.
The tiny detectors, called microtips and nanotips, were developed and built at the University of Washington in a micromanufacturing facility capable of producing up to a million tips per year, a rate that is the key to proving that mass production is a possibility, explains the lead researcher.

Using the same method, the researchers also designed a device the size of a pencil that could be sent home with patients or provided to soldiers serving outside the country's borders. Patients will be able to take a saliva sample from their oral cavity, purify the DNA in it in an instant and send the results to the hospitals and laboratories to receive accurate results. This method could be particularly useful in the existing effort to determine the gene sequence of each and every person, an effort that will lead to an improvement in disease prevention and treatment In them, the main researcher points out, the market for this type of device is not yet developed, but the research group claims that it will be ready and available when the market reaches demand. In the meantime, the larger device (the one not the size of a pencil) is ready for commercialization and its developers have already started collaborating with the various vendors in this area.

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