POTSDAM -- Clarkson University Research Professors Kelsey Moody and Aaron Wolfe were recently published in the peer-reviewed, open access scientific journal Nature Communications with their article titled “A generalizable nanopore sensor for highly specific protein detection at single-molecule precision.”

Moody, who is also the Founder and CEO of Ichor Life Sciences, and Wolfe, Ichor’s Chief Science Officer, worked with six other researchers on the article, which focuses on the development of highly efficient molecular diagnostics.

Ichor studies fundamental mechanisms of aging to develop new classes of drugs dedicated to helping people live longer, healthier lives. In collaboration with the Lewis School for Health Sciences, Ichor has expanded to occupy offices and wet laboratory space in Peyton Hall on Clarkson’s downtown campus.

“Molecular diagnostics are used to monitor onset, progression, and regression of disease – even when patients are not necessarily symptomatic,” Moody explained. “Existing technologies require relatively large quantities of blood and many diagnostic tests have high limits of detection. You need to have a high burden of virus in your bloodstream to detect it, for example. This technology utilizes a nanopore system that can be tuned to detect any protein of interest with a single-molecule detection limit.”

Wolfe said the research has the potential to be a hallmark for all molecular diagnostics modalities in the future.

“Imagine the ability to detect very limited analytes specifically in minute volumes of complex fluid like liquid biopsies or blood,” he said. “This is an amazing advancement for protein detection broadly and has potential as a tunable molecular diagnostic tool.”

Wolfe, who has been working in the field of single molecule protein sensing for nearly 20 years, believes this publication highlights the cohesive power of the partnership between Clarkson and Ichor.

“I believe that our ethos at Clarkson and that of Ichor is that science is a team sport and that we should be working with as many folks as possible highlighting the various strengths of our respective organizations,” Wolfe said. “We love collaborating with various professors and teams with our Clarkson graduate students to allow them to have the deepest experience for their respective degrees. We are really excited for the work that is being done now that will be led by our students.”

The published article can be found at nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36944-9.