Grant: Idea to Innovation

This project will scale the University of Ottawa's nanopore technology to a parallel array format to accelerate the development of applications. It is the next step toward the goal of enabling downstream healthcare applications of solid-state nanopores via single-molecule proteomics. Scientific instrumentation for life sciences is undergoing a revolution. New technologies have emerged that can detect individual molecules to enable important new opportunities in biotechnology and healthcare. Nanopores are molecular-sized holes in thin membranes that enable purely electrical sensing for single molecule detection. The next anticipated paradigm shift in our understanding of human health is expected from advances in single-molecule protein analysis, and nanopores are the primary candidate with which to do this in small point-of-care format. The University of Ottawa previously developed a key technology: the controlled breakdown method, which automates fabrication of individual nanopores down to 1-nm in size with unmatched precision. This innovation has already been productized by our partner, Northern Nanopore Instruments. This project aims to develop a platform that parallelizes this technology and integrates it with high-performance, multi-channel electronics, enabling solid-state nanopore sensing in an array format. This new platform will dramatically increase the diversity and speed of nanopore-based research that is possible and thereby accelerate the establishment of a new class of biotechnologies based on solid-state nanopore sensors that will ultimately improve the lives of Canadians through better diagnostics, and cement Canada's position as a global leader in medical science and in the development of new bio- and nanotechnologies.