Novel microchip-based diagnostic tools for metabolite detection.

Studentship strategic priority area: Sensors and instrumentation

Abstract: Tools enabling the diagnosis of disease that also assist in tailoring drug therapies most suitable for individual patients are emerging. Among the key breakthroughs has been the discovery that changes in levels of various biochemicals can point to disease. This has been long known in conditions such as diabetes where uncontrolled glucose levels are the primary marker used in diagnosis. As we learn more about metabolism, so other biochemical markers of disease have emerged. It is possible to determine levels of metabolites based on the ability of specific enzymes to convert them to products that can be detected using microchips. In this project we propose to use enzymes to identify multiple different metabolite-markers associated with disease using a chip based format. The project will focus on developing enzyme assays, coupled to microchip surfaces linked to sensor arrays to quantify metabolites whose perturbation is known to be associated with cardiovascular disease.