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OverviewUnderstanding NanotechnologyImpacts on CancerWhere It Stands Now

Nanotechnology Animations: Cantilevers

Nanoscale CantileversReference: Arun Majumdar, University of California at Berkeley

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As a cancer cell secretes its molecular products, the antibodies coated on the cantilever fingers selectively bind to these secreted proteins. These antibodies have been designed to pick up one or more different, specific molecular expressions from a cancer cell. The physical properties of the cantilevers change as a result of the binding event. Researchers can read this change in real time and provide not only information about the presence and the absence but also the concentration of different molecular expressions.

Nanoscale cantilevers, constructed as part of a larger diagnostic device, can provide rapid and sensitive detection of cancer-related molecules.