Ultra-sensitive detection and manipulation of biomolecules

Intel's Precision Biology research effort is working to combine Intel's expertise in nanotechnology with aspects of biology and medicine to create highly sensitive instrumentation for biomolecular analysis. The ability to manipulate, detect, and identify biological molecules at ultra-low concentrations is important for applications ranging from whole-genome DNA sequencing to protein-based early disease detection. In this paper we describe our work to develop a molecular labeling system based on Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS), to enable highly sensitive protein detection. We also present a variety of techniques our team has developed for microfluidic transport and identification of single molecules in solution.