Nanoenhanced Biosensor Detects Single Proteins


The microcavity biosensor that set a record by detecting the smallest single virus in solution has reached a new breakthrough: detecting a single label-free cancer marker protein. The achievement, which shatters the previous record and sets a new benchmark for the most sensitive limit of detection, may significantly advance early disease diagnostics.

In 2012, Stephen Arnold of Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) and colleagues at Fordham University and New York City College of Technology developed a novel microcavity biosensor treated with plasmonic gold nanoreceptors, which enhance the electric field of the sensor and allow even the smallest shifts in resonant frequency to be detected.

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