Ultrathin Gold Nanowire Biosensors

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Testicular cancer is the most common cancer found in males aged between 20 and 39 years. Early detection of the cancer has sufficient benefits to the patient because the treatment is less complicated and can be performed without having a significant effect on fertility. The research in this study will provide a new way of achieving early detection in a non-invasive manner. The principle is to use ultrathin gold wires (approximately one hundred thousand times smaller than a human hair) to electrically sense the presence of small quantities of specific biomarker proteins (HCG). The sensor works by simply flowing a current through the ultrathin gold nanowires. After the attachment of the HCG protein onto the specifically biofunctionalised nanowire, we will be able to detect a change in the electrical current flowing through the wire. This will be the first time ultrathin metal wires have been used in this manner to detect proteins. Once proven successful we will study the ability of these nanowires to sense other important biomarker proteins. During the course of this research I will be performing four-probe transport measurements on chemically synthesized ultrathin gold nanowires to determine the effect the nanoscale dimensions have on the resistivity. In addition to the experiments, we will be generating computation models to provide us with a detailed fundamental understanding of the sensing capability of ultrathin NWs. Beyond this research program, we plan to extend the biosensing capabilities of the NWs to detect other cancers and diseases.