A new, low-cost biosensing technology that could make rapid at-home tests up to 100 times more sensitive to viruses like COVID-19. The diagnostic could expand rapid screening to other life-threatening conditions like prostate cancer and sepsis, as well. Created by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, the test combines a natural evaporation process called the “coffee-ring effect” with plasmonics and AI to detect biomarkers of disease with remarkable precision in just minutes. 

Key findings:

--Energy-generating waves on the membranes of cancer cells may help to fuel disease progression.

--Disrupting the process could slow or halt cancer metastasis. 

--Higher levels of the enzymatic waves appear linked to more severe forms of cancer, indicating that measuring them could help scientists stage cancers.

City of Hope^® Research Spotlight offers a glimpse at groundbreaking scientific and clinical discoveries advancing lifesaving cures for patients with cancer, diabetes and other chronic, life-threatening diseases. This roundup highlights new insights into the cellular processes that lead to midlife weight gain, a promising new therapeutic target for acute myeloid leukemia and a revealing study that sheds light on the challenges women face in male-dominated workplaces.