Fiber Optic based Nucleic Acid (FONA) biosensor, a technology developed in Canada, allows for very detailed analysis of the structure and activity of complex genomes, including the human genome.
This technology is expected to be superior to other technologies because it is cheaper to use, may be reused hundreds of times and can detect low levels of nucleic acid. The goal of this project is to establish a proof of principle for the FONA technology.
The use of the FONA technology will provide the ability to detect genetic abnormalities in newborns as well as cost effective screening for a number of inherited diseases and chromosomal anomalies. Once established, the technology has the potential for applications to a large number of other areas such as the assessment of water purity and food safety analysis.
Scientists at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario lead this project in collaboration with researchers from the University of Ottawa, the University of Toronto, the University of Manitoba and FONA Research Labs of Virtek Vision International.