Professor Brian Cunningham, Director at the Centre for Genomic Diagnostics, outlines innovative technologies aimed at transforming cancer diagnostics through rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective liquid biopsy methods. Highlighting the limitations of conventional tissue biopsies and next-generation sequencing—such as invasiveness, high cost, and long turnaround times—Cunningham advocates for point-of-care systems that can deliver molecular insights in under 30 minutes.
At the core of this vision are gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and photonic crystals, which together enable digital resolution biosensing without the need for PCR or enzyme amplification. His lab’s Photonic Resonator Absorption Microscopy (PRAM) system counts individual nanoparticles bound to target molecules, converting biomarker detection into a visual “black dot” format. What began as a large, expensive setup has evolved into a compact instrument costing less than $500, suitable for clinical use.
Cunningham also presents several rapid assays for detecting proteins, RNAs, and circulating tumour DNA, including the ACDC (Activate Capture + Digital Counting) method and TRAP (Target Recycling and Amplification Process), achieving detection limits down to the attomolar and zeptomolar range—surpassing qRT-PCR.
His team’s work extends into CRISPR-based diagnostics, selectively identifying mutations like EGFR in lung cancer with unmatched specificity. In a novel direction, he also introduces the NanoGripper, a DNA-origami device capable of binding and detecting entire virus particles, such as SARS-CoV-2, in bodily fluids.
Overall, this research represents a paradigm shift toward decentralized, ultra-sensitive diagnostics that combine cutting-edge bioengineering with practical clinical application, improving early detection, therapy selection, and disease monitoring.
