Posted10/20/2020 7:45:22 AM

Scientists have long been on the lookout for more efficient ways to identify particular molecules in the body, because their levels can be indicative of dozens of different health conditions. Now a team of researchers has developed implantable carbon nanotubes that light up in the presences of specific molecules, as the scientists announced last week at the meeting of the American Chemical Society and reported in Nature News. That could lead to faster—or even automated—diagnoses of diseases that currently take several days.

Carbon nanotubes are minuscule cylinders made of graphene and coated with another type of polymer—they are flexible and easy to modify for different purposes, which is why researchers have found uses for them in bringing molecules in and out of cells or checking to see if meat has gone bad.

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Raluca Barbulescu