Nanotechnology for molecular diagnostics

Advancements in molecular diagnostic technologies have changed our understanding of both basic biology and patient disease specifics. While traditional molecular diagnostic methods have been widely adopted, integration of principles from nanotechnology has the potential to facilitate more rapid, accurate, and informative diagnostic tools. This chapter begins with an overview of potential advantages of nanotechnology to the clinical diagnostic laboratory. These include faster reaction times, use of smaller diagnostic samples, and the potential to be more informative through integrated multiplexing. We focus on molecular applications where nucleic acids are the key biomarker, including enrichment, amplification and characterization, sequencing, and molecular profiling. In each section, we detail both commercially available platforms for clinical and research use as well as emerging technologies currently in the research laboratory stage. We highlight unique applications of nanotechnology, including nanoliter-sized droplets, nanofluidic channels, and gold nanoparticles, and describe their principle of operation in diagnostic platforms. We close with a perspective on the limitations of nanotechnology for diagnostics as well as areas for further research and development potential.