Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news

The Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a new nano-biosensor to make DNA detection more convenient and cost effective.
After a year-and-a-half of research, this new technology makes DNA detection more sensitive and swift, with test results presented within only one hour.
The high degree of complexity and cost of the traditional fluorescence-based DNA detection, which is currently adopted worldwide, barely meets its diversified demand. However, the new nano-biosensor has much lower costs, with manufacturing equipment priced only less than one-tenth of that of the traditional technology.
"It hasn't been put into production, but many companies have showed interest in cooperating with us for its application and market promotion," said the supervisor of the research team, adding that such equipment will be available to local families once it hits the market.
The DNA bio-sensors have a wide application in gene-mutation detection, microbe inspection, disease diagnosis, pharmaceutical research, environmental science and biological projects.