Miriam – a breakthrough in early cancer diagnosis?

The creators of a new blood cancer test have promised a revolution in diagnostics

Copper newsBiotechnological startup Miroculus presented at the annual Technology, Education and Design (TED) conference in Rio de Janeiro a prototype of a relatively cheap and affordable device capable, according to the developers, of diagnosing a wide range of oncological diseases by blood analysis, ScienceAlert reports (This new device can detect several cancer types using a single blood sample).

The founders of the US-registered company are confident that their development will revolutionize the early diagnosis of cancer.

The principle of operation of the device, called Miriam, is based on the detection of the presence of specific cancer microRNAs in the blood. We are talking about small non-coding RNA molecules that play a key role in the regulation of many intracellular processes in the body. Recently, microRNAs have been increasingly considered as biomarkers of various diseases, including metabolic disorders, infectious and neurological diseases.

The main part of Miriam is a tablet with 96 wells, each of which contains its own patented biochemical combination capable of reacting to a different type of microRNA previously associated by developers with a particular oncological disease. After the droplets of blood that have previously passed the standard stage of RNA isolation enter each well with a pipette, the tablet is placed directly into the device, where the reaction process takes place within an hour. In the case of the presence of cancer microRNA, the wells begin to glow green. The more intense the glow, the more specific molecules are contained in the sample.

After an hour, the results are sent to a smartphone, where a special application evaluates the strength of the glow of individual wells, determines the types of microRNAs present and compares them with a database, eventually giving a ready-made diagnosis. The information is also anonymously sent to a cloud server, where the entire data array is analyzed, allowing doctors to monitor the ongoing processes in real time.

So far, the device has been tested only on mice, among which Miriam has successfully identified patients with liver cancer. However, it is already known that the estimated cost of Miriam on the market will be $ 500. The founders of Miroculus, including microbiologists and IT specialists from around the world, are confident that in the near future, thanks to the widespread introduction of their development into clinical practice, there will be a revolution in the early diagnosis of cancer and, accordingly, in its therapy. Regular cancer screening will become as routine, easy and simple procedure as blood donation for analysis.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru17.10.2014