Overcoming a technology impasse



The project stems out from the need to overcome a technology impasse: molecular recognition at very low levels of concentration. In this specific task, state-of-the-art artificial systems cannot compete with living organisms. As an example, the sensitivity of chemical senses in insects is 100 billions greater than state-of-the-art electronic noses. Even if not to this extent, the project proposes to reduce the huge gap between Nature and Technology.
Molecular recognition is one of the most important steps required for a deep understanding of mechanisms in living beings. Every active cell interacts each other and with the environment by means of a complex network of molecular messangers at very low concentration. There are perhaps thousands or millions of regulatory substances in the human body and any imbalance between them may have dramatic consequences for well-being and health.

The only way to boost the sensitivity for molecular recognition is using affinity binding paradigm employed by receptors. Receptors are proteins that are usually sitting on the cell membrane that are employing an extremely efficient molecular machinery for detecting specific molecules. The goal of the project is to combine efficiency of this bio-molecule with powerful flexibility of integrated electronics in a unique device called Receptron.

Being able to detect specific biological molecules at very low concentrations is a new promising area of Medicine that aims to identify the onset or prediction of disease before the patient shows any symptoms. If the technology can be made cheap enough and simple enough for widespread use, it will enable the rapid identification and monitoring of proteins and pathogens. As a result, it will be possible not only to give appropriate treatment much more quickly but also to make treatment patient specific, leading to fewer side-effects and faster patient recovery. RECEPTRONICS could provide a breakthrough technology for sophisticated diagnostic tools in the field of early cancer diagnosis and hormone balance monitoring. Furthermore, the same technology could be employed for detecting contaminants at very low concentration for environmental safety in Agriculture and industrial processes.

The project outputs are:

  • The exploitation of hybrid technologies for the study and the implementation of an integrated sensor aimed at achieving extremely high sensitivity for portable and low-cost devices.
  • The final device should ultimately be developed by embedding a platform consisting of:
    • A biomorphic front-end, dedicated to highly specific affinity interaction with the target molecules.
    • Advanced microelectronic systems dedicated to the detection, amplification and conditioning of the signals.
  • The development of a method to customize the device for specific target molecules. For this purpose, validation exercises will be undertaken within the program, using different kinds of receptors for several applications.
 
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design: Open Lab