Lok Sabha Question No. 1431 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-04
Subject: DNA Aptamer Technology
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Dr. Hemant Vishnu Savara, Smt. Smita Uday Wagh, Shri Vijay Kumar Dubey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1431

TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.12.2024

## DNA APTAMER TECHNOLOGY

## 1431.  SMT. SMITA UDAY WAGH; SHRI VIJAY KUMAR DUBEY; DR. HEMANT VISHNU SAVARA:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) the key features and potential applications of the indigenous healthcare technologies, such as the  DNA Aptamer for prostate cancer detection and the Photonic Chip-based spectrometric biosensor, recently transferred to industry by IIT Delhi under the Nano electronics Network for Research Application (NNetRA) project;
- (b) whether the DNA Aptamer technology contribute to prostate cancer detection  and if so, its advantages over existing methods;
- (c) the  role  of  the  Photonic  Chip-based  spectrometric  biosensor  in  healthcare  along  with  its broader potential applications; and
- (d) the manner in which the  Government is facilitating the commercialization and adoption of these technologies and its likely  impact  on the healthcare industry?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA)

- (a):   Key features and potential applications of the indigenous healthcare technologies:

## i. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) Aptamer for prostate cancer detection:

## Aptamers:

Aptamers are small molecules that can bind to specific targets such as proteins, carbohydrates and even live cells with high affinity.

## Role of Aptamers in Cancer:

In cancer cells, some proteins, specific to the type of cancer, are at abnormally high level as compared to in the normal cells. These proteins can be used to identify the presence of the cancer cells, their localisation throughout the body and for cancer therapy. Since aptamers can  bind  to  specific  targets  such  as  proteins,  carbohydrates  and  even  live  cells  with  high affinity, therefore they may be used to target this specific protein on the surface of the cancer cells.

## Contribution of IITD:

Researchers at IIT Delhi have fabricated DNA aptamers to target the proteins on the surface of prostate cancer cells. It can work as an excellent sensing element for biosensors due to its small size (2 nm), high affinity towards specific ligand/binder and stability.

## Potential applications:

Along  with  the  detection,  fabricated  DNA  aptamers  at  IIT  Delhi  may  provide  the functionality  to  act  for  prostate  cancer  cells.  For  this,  the  fabricated  aptamer  has  been conjugated/bound  with  a  drug  used  to  treat  the  prostate  cancer.  Due  to  small  size, (approximately one fifth size of antibodies), aptamer has additional advantages as sensing layer for photonic biosensor devices; and can help as drug delivery agent.

Potential  applications  of  this  technology  are  in  the  development  of  point-of-care  in  vitro diagnostics especially in low-resource settings due to its robust nature.

## ii. Photonic Chip-based spectrometric biosensor:

The photonic chip based spectrometric biosensor developed at IIT Delhi are portable, light weight,  show  quick  response,  highly  sensitive  for  accurate  detection  of  pathogens.  The biosensor  utilises  Guided  Mode  Resonance  (GMR)  technology.  The  GMR  technology entails etching of the special pattern and engrooves on the substrate which uses light waves and sensing layer to make a precise biosensor.

## Advantages and Applications of Chips:

The  fabricated  chips  are  reusable  and  provide  rapid  detection  of  number  of  pathogens  by using  a  very  low  sample  volumes  required  to  obtain  the  information  on  the  presence  of pathogens. This sensor may prove extremely useful for food and health industry.

## (b): Contribution  of  the  DNA Aptamer  technology  to  prostate  cancer  detection  and  its advantages over existing methods

## Contribution of the DNA Aptamer technology:

DNA aptamer technology has huge potential to contribute to prostate cancer detection as well as treatment.

## Existing Methods:

Traditionally,  'Prostate  Specific  Antigen  (PSA)'is  used  as  the  biomarker  for  prostate  cancer. However,  PSA  level  in  the  body  has  been  reported  to  be  affected  by  several  factors  such  as obesity or some medications. This has resulted in false positives in many cases.

## Advantages of DNA Aptamers technology over existing methods :

DNA aptamer technology  is  advantageous  over  the  PSA  based  technique  as  it  overcomes  the challenges due to its high affinity towards prostate cells.

In addition, this technology provides greater stability, minimal immunogenicity, and scalability.

## (c): Role of the Photonic Chip-based spectrometric biosensor in healthcare and its potential applications

The  biosensor  is  extremely  sensitive  to  the  presence  of  pathogens  as  well  as  other  disease biomarkers  that  binds  with  high  selectivity  of  antibody  immobilized/bound  on  sensing  layer hence can be used for wide range of healthcare applications.

This sensor may have potential applications in food industry as well.

## Advantages over existing methods :

The advantages over the other existing detection schemes are its high selectivity, rapid detection and reusable nature.

## (d): Government  support  in  facilitating  the  commercialization  and  adoption  of  these technologies and the impact expected on the healthcare industry

The technologies developed have been transferred to interested private companies and start-ups through  Foundation  for  Innovation  and  Technology  Transfer  (FITT)  section  of  IIT  Delhi. Incubation of a new startup for the same is also under process at IIT Delhi.

MeitY along-with  other  Govt  agencies  such  as  DBT,  ICMR  etc.  have  schemes  to  support  for clinical  trials,  certification,  prototyping  etc  for  startups  and  industries  to  commercialise  these technologies.

Through  adoption  of  these  new  indigenous  technologies  for  healthcare  industry,  early  cancer detection, disease monitoring, food quality, and many more such applications may be feasible.