SERGen Probe Technology

  Detecting the multiple sequence-specific DNA fragments in an infectious pathogen is one of the first steps in the diagnosis of a disease or the development of a new drug. Scientists in the Advanced Monitoring Development Group, Life Sciences Division have recently developed the surface-enhanced Raman gene (SERGen) probe technology that can be used to detect multiple DNA bio-targets rapidly, simply, and without the use of hazardous radioactive labels.

  The SERGen method involves incubation of a probe in a sample, excitation of the hybridized product using a laser, and detection of the product using the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technique. Additionally, the SERGen procedure can be combined with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to allow the detection of a single organism.

 The SERGen technique could be used for medical diagnosis of genetic based cancer (p53 gene) and other diseases, monitoring human exposure to infectious agents (HIV, hepatitis), screening of blood supplies for pathogens, screening of vaccines for contaminants, and cancer research.

Contact: Tuan Vo-Dinh
Telephone: 423-574-6249
E-mail: tvo@ornl.gov