Digital Diagnostics

Compartmentalization of molecules or cells at less than one copy per droplet enables a very high signal to noise ratio in each droplet, and a very good sensitivity, which can be mandatory in a range of diagnostic tests.

Detection of mutations can aid cancer diagnosis, patient stratification and follow-up. However, in feces or blood most genes are not from the tumour and are unmutated.

Compartmentalization of DNA molecules at less than one copy per droplet enables a very high signal to noise ratio in each droplet, and the detection of 1 mutated sequence in a background of 200.000 wild-type sequences in a 2-color Taqman assay.

Further development and novel Digital Diagnostics methods will be developed in the frame of the Investissement d’Avenir Program DigiDiag, coordinated by the LBC.

This 5-year program started in the summer of 2012.

DigiDiag aims to develop miniaturized micro/nanofluidic lab on a chip systems for point-of-care (and other) applications in diagnostics, clinical management and personalized medicine. We aim to mature technologies to the point at which they can be successfully commercialised.

The project is highly multidisciplinary and, in order to achieve our goal, the consortium regroups 13 partners with expertise ranging through micro/nanofabrication, micro/nanofluidics, chemistry, physicochemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, instrumentation and clinical medicine, located throughout France (Ile de France, Toulouse and Bordeaux).