James Hammerton

• Mchem (Hons) Chemistry with Study Abroad
• Rapid visual detection of colorectal causing BAT15 mutations

Early detection of colorectal cancer is vital to give patients a high chance of survival of the disease. We as chemists can do this by analysing mutations in single base pairs to see if a patient is more susceptible to these cancers so that they can be prevented before invasive surgery is required. One way to detect these mutations in the DNA is by immobilising DNA on to a range of surfaces (glass, silicon, graphene oxide) that have complementary strands to the mutated sequences. Here, we are looking for changes in a sequence with 24, 25 and 26 Adenine bases, 25 repeats being the healthy chain and 24/26 being the mutated sequence.  In this project we will need the complementary T base strand of equal length immobilised on a suitable substrate to match the target DNA.  If these strands bind they will be observed by the addition of a fluorescent intercalator dye, creating a simple visual test for the recognition of the mutated DNA sequence.

Funding source: Newcastle University

Supervisor: Dr Andrew Pike