Nanotechnology for PED/HGH Detection

From Steroid Nation posted by GRG51

Interesting concept: use of nanotechnology to monitor doping, even those compounds difficult to assay.

A Virginia-based biotechnology company, Ceres uses its patented Nanotrap™ -- a spherical, carbon-based nanoparticle designed to collect, concentrate, isolate and preserve the smallest and scarcest of molecules found in body fluids -- to pursue a range of applications in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, as well as uses in sports doping screening, homeland security and environmental remediation.

Ceres and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency have partnered to study the potential for a viable urine-based test for the detection of human growth hormone (HGH). Laboratory findings recently published in NanoLetters and Nano Research strongly suggest that development of this screening tool is highly probable, a move that would revolutionize the way college and professional sports organizations monitor potential drug use by athletes.

The Nanotrap technology also is being reviewed by SAIC-Frederick Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Science Applications International Corp., to determine the feasibility of developing diagnostic tools that detect cancer at the earliest possible stage when treatment is most effective.

Lab testing for a peptide (protein) hormone like HGH is always vexing. Whereas the anabolic steroids either show a long half-life, or slowly seep out of muscle, HGH exits the body relatively quickly. A sensitive way of trapping the molecule would be a boon for dope testing.