Team:Freiburg/Project/Overview

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The DiaCHIP - A Versatile Detection System

DiaCHIP_Sabi

Project Motivation

Serological tests are a key element in modern medicine. Especially when it comes to the detection and identification of infectious diseases, performing different blood tests is inevitable. Regardless of a patient having diffuse symptoms or being tested for a defined number of diseases, more than one serological test has to be performed each time. Many tests, many days of waiting and an increasing bill: For some infectious diseases every minute is important to life and not everyone can afford a long series of testing. What if there was a possibility to combine all tests in one single and affordable device?

Detecting Antigen-Antibody Interactions

The DiaCHIP is an innovative tool to screen for a broad range of antibodies present in serum.
Antibodies can be an indicator for an immune response towards an infection or a successful vaccination.
They also play an important role in the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases.
Especially the ability to differentiate between life threatening diseases and mild infections within a short time bears the potential to save lives.

Spotting diseases by detecting correspondent antibodies in a patient's serum is an established method in modern diagnostics. The DiaCHIP makes it possible to screen for multiple specific antibodies at once simply using a drop of blood.

The Concept

The key feature of the DiaCHIP concept is the combination of on-demand protein synthesis and a novel method for label-free detection packed into one device. The idea is to overcome challenges commonly found in protein array production and preservation. In addition, results can be obtained in a time- and cost-efficient manner; with a device simple enough to be rebuilt by future iGEM Teams.

  • Building our own device

    The device originally used, in collaboration with AG Roth, is an expensive machine based on rather simple components. Therefore, we decided to build our apparatus in a cost-efficient manner. We were able to produce reliable results with it and provide a construction plan. This plan will make it possible for future iGEM generations to build and use their own label-free protein array analysis tool.

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  • Communicating science

    Diagnosing diseases fast and reliable is not only an issue among medical staff, it is also subject to public interest. This has lead us to ask for people's opinions regarding the DiaCHIP. Although the method is based on synthetic biology, which is a problematic term for the broad public according to a survey initiated by the Leopoldina (National academy of science), we received a lot of positive feedback.

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  • Modeling cell-free expression

    In order to optimize the DiaCHIP for future applications, we optimized the process of cell-free expression and diffusion over time. Making use of xxx parameters and xxx ordinary differential equations, we computed the size of the resulting antigen spots on the protein array and identified the factors limiting cell-free expression in the DiaCHIP.

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  • Measuring our blood

    One of the most promising results was obtained from the detection of anti-tetanus antibodies in human blood serum. The DiaCHIP analysis made it possible for us to distinguish serum samples from a team member before and after vaccination. Samples taken two weeks after vaccination produced higher signals, compared to those prior to antigen exposure.

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  • DNA Engineering

    Genetic fusion of different antigens and tags is a really basic requirement of our project. To enable many people to work on our DNA constructs in parallel we designed a cloning strategy easy to follow and additionally easy to expand for further needs.
    Read more about how we combined different cloning methods to reduce our efforts in DNA Engineering.

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  • Measuring our blood

    One of the most promising results was obtained from the detection of anti-tetanus antibodies in human blood serum. The DiaCHIP analysis made it possible for us to distinguish serum samples from a team member before and after vaccination. Samples taken two weeks after vaccination produced higher signals, compared to those prior to antigen exposure.

    Want to read more?

  • Measuring our blood

    One of the most promising results was obtained from the detection of anti-tetanus antibodies in human blood serum. The DiaCHIP analysis made it possible for us to distinguish serum samples from a team member before and after vaccination. Samples taken two weeks after vaccination produced higher signals, compared to those prior to antigen exposure.

    Want to read more?

  • Measuring our blood

    One of the most promising results was obtained from the detection of anti-tetanus antibodies in human blood serum. The DiaCHIP analysis made it possible for us to distinguish serum samples from a team member before and after vaccination. Samples taken two weeks after vaccination produced higher signals, compared to those prior to antigen exposure.

    Want to read more?