Biosensor to aid battle against cancer

This is the hope of engineers at Swansea University where work is being conducted to develop a new kind of biosensor made of graphene grown on a silicon carbide substrate using silicon sublimation.

Graphene – discovered in 2004 by physicists at Manchester University – is a one-atom-thick carbon layer that is stronger and possesses greater electrical conductivity than other semiconducting materials such as silicon or gallium arsenide.

Dr Owen Guy, who is leading the research programme at Swansea, said his team will use advanced chemistry to attach ‘bio-receptors’ to nano-channel graphene devices. These receptors will detect the presence of cancer-indicating biomarkers in urine or saliva samples.

Guy said in the early stage of disease certain biomarkers such as 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine, which is indicative of prostate cancer, are found in low concentration.

Current diagnosis of disease biomarkers is based on detection of fluorescent labelled probe molecules that interact with specific receptors bound to a substrate. Guy said this is expensive and time consuming and lacks the sensitivity needed to pick up lower concentrations of biomarkers.