In the present study, Prof. Tomer Shlomi's research group presents a method that skips chromatography and allows one to be satisfied with mass spectrometry alone without significantly compromising the quality of the analysis. The test is completed in just 30 seconds and thus shortens the process by about 98% and reduces its cost by a similar amount
Researchers from the faculties of computer science and biology at the Technion have developed a new method for quick and cheap analysis of the chemical composition of blood samples, which may speed up the early diagnosis of diseases. The first application that will be tested in the near future is the early detection of various cancerous tumors based on blood tests. The innovative technology, which was published in the scientific magazine Nature Communications, was developed by researchers Prof. Tomer Shlomi and doctoral students Shuval Legziel and Boris Sarvin, and is based on a unique combination of a mass spectrometer and computational methods developed by the research group.
A mass spectrometer is a common device used to determine concentrations of molecules in biological samples. The test with this device currently requires a preliminary process called chromatography - separation of the substances in the sample according to chemical characteristics.
The chromatography, which increases the sensitivity of the spectrometric measurement, takes a long time and therefore makes the whole process very expensive - hundreds of dollars per sample. Therefore, the ambition to skip the chromatographic step is clear, but without compromising the sensitivity of the analysis, that is, the ability to identify many molecules and quantify their concentrations.
In the current study, Prof. Shlomi's research group presents a method that skips chromatography and makes it possible to be satisfied with mass spectrometry alone without significantly compromising the quality of the analysis. The test is completed in just 30 seconds and thus shortens the process by about 98% and reduces its cost by a similar amount.
According to Prof. Shlomi, the innovation lies in the use of a computational method developed by the research group - a method that shows optimal working configurations in the mass spectrometer, which enables high-sensitivity analysis for specific biological samples. Through computational analysis, correction of the measured raw information and accurate quantification of concentrations of thousands of molecules in the blood samples is also performed.
Prof. Tomer Shlomi is a faculty member in the Faculties of Computer Science and Biology and a member of the Lori Lockey Center for Life Sciences and Engineering. The study was conducted with the support of the European Research Commission (ERC grant) and the National Science Foundation (Personalized Medicine grant).
One response
Shortens the process by 98%? Hundreds of dollars for a sample?
Who does not
What's more, man will definitely do himself and his environment good if he starts harnessing the computational powers for practical applications as was done in this study.