Application of Nanomaterials to Arrays for Infectious Disease Diagnosis

Abstract

As our understanding of infectious agents increases it has become possible to identify the biological components of individual strains with greater accuracy. This ability is aiding clinical microbiologists to control both existing and emerging infectious disease problems. Microarray technologies are playing an increasingly important role in supplying relevant test data. Control of the nanoscale structures of the materials used in arrays, including the supports, reagents and analytes, is now essential. New techniques for the manufacture of nanostructured supports is now allowing rapid advances in the fields of multianalyte testing and high-volume DNA sequencing.

Keywords::

• infectious disease
• microarrays
• molecular diagnosis
• molecular typing
• sequencing

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This work was supported by the European Commission and the Integrated Project NACBO (contract number NMP4-CT-2004-500804). The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the European Commission and the Integrated Project NACBO (contract number NMP4-CT-2004-500804). The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.