Rapid and Reprogrammable Assay for Multiplexed Gene Detection

Precise diagnosis of biomarkers can stratify the disease progression. Multi-analyte biomarkers provide high-resolution specificity of the disease complexity. At present, Cytochrome P450 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genes (such as as-CYP2D6 and CYP2C19) linked to the metabolism of 25% of clinically used drugs. Detection of these polymorphic genes are essential for drug metabolism is instrumental in drug therapy as well as clinical settings. Currently available technologies such as as-microarrays and qPCR are not qualified for POC because they are labor-intensive, expensive, time-consuming, and requires a large quantity of cDNA. Besides, these methods are more assessable to single biomarker, and often misleads sensitivity, specificity, and efficacy of disease prognosis. The overall objective of this Phase I work is to develop a compact, cost-effective, and POC assay to detect multiple gene biomarkers in bodily fluid samples. Giner proposes to develop a high performance, compact, label-free, highly sensitive, and specific easy-to-use multiplexed sensor utilizing non-enzymatic hybridization chain reaction and electrochemical technology. In collaboration with the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), Giner’s POC assay will detect multiple gene biomarkers (specific to drug metabolism) in exogenously enriched blood samples with high specificity and sensitivity.