Scientists develop first-ever application to detect cancer within a single cell

By Kelly Hodgkins April 20, 2016

MD Anderson Cancer Center — Facebook

Researchers from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have developed the world’s first application capable of detecting cancerous changes in a single cell. This new approach makes it possible for researchers to detect slight alterations in a DNA sequence from multiple individual cells, a level of detection not currently possible using methods that require the analysis of a vast number of cells.

This new method is based on a recent form of DNA analysis called single-cell sequencing (SCS) that looks for DNA mutations in multiple individual cells, allowing researcher to detect cancerous mutations within a tissue sample. This SCS technology differs significantly from the existing next-generation sequencing (NGS) method that measures genomes derived from millions of cells. SCS has made a significant impact in the field of medicine and molecular biology, but the computational tools that analyze the DNA sequences are not as accurate as researchers wanted.

The University of Texas research team has improved these analytics tools, creating a new application they call Monovar. This method makes it possible to detect small changes in DNA known as single-nucleotide variants (SNVs). SNVs are commonly used as markers to identify both inheritable diseases and DNA-related diseases such as cancer.

Monovar is a flexible tool, capable of analyzing DNA in a variety of applications beyond early cancer detection and treatment. “Monovar will have significant translational applications in cancer diagnosis and treatment, personalized medicine, and prenatal genetic diagnosis, where the accurate detection of SNVs is critical for patient care,” said study co-authors Nicholas Navin, Ph.D., and Ken Chen, Ph.D.. The results of this study were published recently in the online version of Nature Methods.

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Kelly's been writing online for ten years, working at Gizmodo, TUAW, and BGR among others. Living near the White Mountains of…

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From VR to AI, eVTOLs and QD-OLED, the acronyms were flying and fresh technologies populated every corner of the show floor, and even the parking lot. So naturally, we poked, prodded, and tried on everything we could. They weren’t all revolutionary. But they didn’t have to be. We’ve watched enough waves of “game-changing” technologies that never quite arrive to know that sometimes it’s the little tweaks that really count.

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Samsung's Relumino Mode
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[CES 2023] Relumino Mode: Innovation for every need | Samsung
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Split image of Breaking Bad anime characters.

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Within the past year, AI has also been used to generate beautiful works of art in seconds, creating a viral new trend and causing a boon for fan artists everywhere. TikTok user @cyborgism recently broke the internet by posting a clip featuring many AI-generated pictures of Breaking Bad. The theme here is that the characters are depicted as anime characters straight out of the 1980s, and the result is concerning to say the least. Depending on your viewpoint, Breaking Bad AI (my unofficial name for it) shows how technology can either threaten the integrity of original works of art or nurture artistic expression.
What if AI created Breaking Bad as a 1980s anime?
Playing over Metro Boomin's rap remix of the famous "I am the one who knocks" monologue, the video features images of the cast that range from shockingly realistic to full-on exaggerated. The clip currently has over 65,000 likes on TikTok alone, and many other users have shared their thoughts on the art. One user wrote, "Regardless of the repercussions on the entertainment industry, I can't wait for AI to be advanced enough to animate the whole show like this."