Biomarkers – or biological markers – are used in many areas of health and disease as measures of a biological or clinical state. In the context of cancer, identifying biomarkers of early stage cancer is crucial for being able to detect disease earlier and improving the outcomes of patients with cancer. However, biomarkers alone are not sufficient for earlier detection. We also need to develop cost-effective, non-invasive, simple-to-use technologies that can be used in the clinic to detect these biomarkers with high sensitivity, specificity and accuracy.
Professor Jason Davis in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oxford is working on just that. Professor Davis’ research has focused on developing portable, handheld diagnostic tests that use a range of electroanalytical methods for biomarker detection. This includes recent work on using novel electrochemical impedance-based sensing technology to detect C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation in the body.
These methods are advantageous for use in diagnostics since they generate results in a few minutes and are more sensitive than other commonly used techniques such as ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). They also do not require the sample to be processed before testing, meaning that a single drop of blood can be analysed directly, without needing further reagents or equipment. Multiple different biomarkers can be analysed simultaneously, potentially allowing multi-cancer blood tests in the future.
To further develop this technology into a clinically implementable assay, five years ago, Osler Diagnostics was spun out of Professor Davis’ lab. The ultimate aim is that this assay could be applied in GP surgeries to test for disease in asymptomatic individuals.
Professor Davis is currently looking at clinical applications within cardiac, cancer and neurological diseases and welcomes interest from researchers who would like to contribute their biomarker ideas and clinical problems.
About the researchers
The Davis Group runs an interdisciplinary research programme within the Department of Chemistry that develops and applies methods for the fabrication of advanced functional interfaces, and are actively engaged in the development of molecular detection, diagnostic, theranostic, and imaging methodologies.