Nanotech used to build cancer-detecting microchip／用奈米科技打造測癌微晶片

◎陳成良

University researchers have used nanomaterials to develop a microchip they say has enough sensitivity to detect early stage cancer when it is most treatable.

大學研究人員已利用奈米材料開發出一種微晶片，他們稱這種晶片靈敏度足以偵測到初期癌症，這時期的癌症幾乎都能治療。

Scientists at the University of Toronto reported that the chip not only detects cancer but also can detect the type and severity of it. The chip, built with nanowires, is designed to sense trace amounts of cancer biomarkers, which are biologic molecules that indicate the presence or progression of a disease.

多倫多大學的科學家指出，這種晶片不只能偵測癌症，還能偵測癌症種類及嚴重程度。這種以奈米線製成的晶片是設計來感應微量的癌生物標記，這是顯示疾病存在或進展的生物分子。

"Uniting DNA -- the molecule of life -- with speedy, miniaturized electronic chips is an example of cross-disciplinary convergence," said Ted Sargent, an engineering professor and lead investigator in the project, in a statement.

「以快速、微型化的電子晶片來結合（生命的分子）DNA，乃是跨學科統合的範例」，工程學系教授、也是該研究計畫首席調查人員泰德．薩金特在一項聲明中說。

At the University of Toronto, the microchip has so far been tested on prostate cancer, but is expected to detect other cancers, as well as to diagnose and assess other infectious diseases, like HIV and the H1N1 flu.

在多倫多大學，這種微晶片至今已對攝護腺癌進行測試，但預料也將測試其他癌症，以及對愛滋病毒及H1N1流感等傳染性疾病進行診斷及評估。

新聞詞典 Dictionary

trace amounts of ：片語，微量的。trace在此為名詞，指「絲毫、微量」。trace elements則是「微量元素」。

miniaturize：動詞，使微型化。miniaturized（小型化的），例句：

L.E.D.’s - which stand for light-emitting diodes - are miniaturized light bulbs illuminated by a flow of electrons. （LED，也就是發光二極體，是利用電子流發光的小型燈泡。）

cross-disciplinary：形容詞，跨學科的；跨領域的。用法如： cross-disciplinary courses（通識課程）。