Nanoscale photonics technology that can help to diagnose cancer, detect infection and secure passports and bank notes against fraud is in the running for a Eureka Prize for science, to be announced next week by the Australian Museum.
Newly invented nanocrystals known as Super Dots® have the capability to “fish” a diseased cell from millions in a blood or urine sample, for example, and give an accurate and non-invasive early diagnosis of prostate cancer, says the technology developer, Dayong Jin.
“The Super Dots are so bright and so sensitive that we can use them to link to single molecules, to identify the signalling molecules that are the indicators of disease,” says Professor Jin, from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).
Professor Jin, Professor Tanya Monro, deputy vice-chancellor research and innovation at the University of South Australia, and Dr Brad Walsh, chief executive of biomarker development company Minomic International Ltd, have been selected as Eureka finalists for “excellence in interdisciplinary scientific research”. The technology was developed and patented at Macquarie University by Professor Jin and his team.
Read the full story in the UTS Newsroom.