Project Wiki: https://ucalgary-biomod-2024-wiki.onrender.com/
A promising solution for early neurovascular disease detection.
This project was created for BIOMOD (International Biomolecular Design Competition), which is an annual event for students focused on using the molecule of life (DNA, RNA, etc.) to create robots and nanoscale therapeutics.
Our team proudly earned bronze at the competition!
Lack of preventative healthcare for neurodegenerative diseases
Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease and dementia are hard to diagnose early, making treatment for them less effective.
Current methods such as MRI/CT are time intensive and blood/urine test become too diluted, reducing accuracy while there are no gold standards for the method.
DNADetect's solution consists of 4 different parts, which will be briefly explained below:
A tiny DNA-formed channel embedded in a dye-containing lipid membrane, acting as a channel for dye release.
A fusion of an aptamer and enzyme that blocks the nanopore until it binds to a target molecule, triggering a structural change.
A design mechanism that links components and enables modularity, allowing easy swapping of aptamers for different biomarkers.
These vesicles release the dye when the nanopore is unblocked, emitting fluorescence as a signal for the presence of the target biomarker.
A tiny DNA-formed channel embedded in a dye-containing lipid membrane, acting as a channel for dye release.
A fusion of an aptamer and enzyme that blocks the nanopore until it binds to a target molecule, triggering a structural change.
A design mechanism that links components and enables modularity, allowing easy swapping of aptamers for different biomarkers.
These vesicles release the dye when the nanopore is unblocked, emitting fluorescence as a signal for the presence of the target biomarker.
Watch this video to learn more!