Intel in chip cancer detection research

Intel and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre are working together to find out if the equipment that's used to make semiconductors help detect the early stages of cancer.

The chipmaker will construct a device, called a Raman Bioanalyser System, at the Seattle-based research organisation that will be able, ideally, to detect chemical anomalies in individual cells, which in turn could be used to flag diseases in their early stages.

Raman spectroscopy is used to analyse the chemical composition of chips during the fabrication process. When a laser beam is directed toward a chip or a region of a chip, the molecules in the light beam become stimulated and emit a specific spectrum of light, which the Raman spectrometer picks up. Because every molecule emits a different spectrum, the molecules can be identified.

Andrew Berlin, lead researcher of Intel's Precision Biology programme, said in a statement: "The instrument beams lasers onto tiny medical samples, such as blood serum, to create images that reveal the chemical structure of molecules. The goal is to determine if this technology, previously used to detect microscopic imperfections on silicon chips, can also detect subtle traces of disease."

Although Raman spectroscopy has been around for a while, it hasn't been used in this context, according to Berlin, because the fields of semiconductor manufacturing and biological research haven't interacted extensively until recently.

Life sciences has become a key area of growth for high-tech companies. Breakthroughs such as the mapping of the human genome have opened up new horizons in drug discovery and health care. Technologies such as server clustering and BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool), a complex application for protein analysis, have evolved to help scientists get a better grip on the mushrooming quantities of biomedical data they must analyse.

Biosciences organizations will spend an estimated $30bn on technology-related purchases in 2006, up from $12bn in 2001, according to research firm IDC.

The rising cost of health care in the US, along with new legislative initiatives such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, are prompting hospitals and others to try to automate more of their systems.

Intel, for instance, is working on a programme to develop computer systems that will help monitor the behaviour of Alzheimer's patients. IBM and Hewlett-Packard also are concentrating intently on this market.

A formal announcement of the initiative will take place later at the BioSilico Seminar at Stanford University. The university also is opening the James H. Clark Centre for interdisciplinary scientific study.

Michael Kanellos writes for CNET News.com