Laser Transmission Spectroscopy Detects Species-Specific DNA

A team of researchers has shown that an innovative DNA detection technique that become useful for many real-world applications.

Physicists Carol Tanner and Steven Ruggiero, from the University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, IN, USA), led the team in the application of a new technique called laser transmission spectroscopy (LTS). LTS is capable of rapidly determining the size, shape, and number of nanoparticles in suspension.

In an article published December 16, 2011, in the international, open-access, online publication PLoS ONE, the team reported on how they applied LTS as a novel method for detecting species-specific DNA where the presence of one invasive species, the quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis), was distinguished from a closely related invasive sister species, the zebra mussel (D. polymorpha).

The study was conducted in support of and cooperation with Notre Dame’s Environmental Change Initiative (ECI). Scientists from ECI are using environmental DNA (eDNA) as part of their surveillance of Asian carp in the Great Lakes region of the United States. The findings of the research demonstrate the basic premise of DNA detection by LTS in the laboratory.

The Notre Dame researchers pointed out that the LTS technique has many advantages over established DNA detection techniques. The technique is very sensitive and takes only a few seconds to score genetically a sample for species presence or absence. The researchers also feel that LTS technology will prove much more rapid, practical, and cost-effective than current detection techniques and could ultimately reach the sensitivity required to eliminate the need for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification.

Although the current article described the use of LTS in invasive species detection, the Notre Dame researchers believe that the technique could serve as a significant application in detecting human pathogens and determining and indicating the presence of genetic disorders such as cancer.

The Notre Dame group is examining the real-life applications of LTS technology and working on transitioning its effectiveness from the lab to the field.

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