Can a new breath test using synthetic nanoparticles monitor bacterial pneumonia?

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT; MA, USA) have described in Nature Nanotechnology the development of a new breath test using synthetic nanoparticles to monitor diseases such as bacterial pneumonia and alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. Sangeeta Bhatia (MIT) and her research team first studied nanoparticles that could be used as biomarkers also known as peptides. The researchers discovered that the biomarkers were released from nanoparticles when they encountered proteins termed proteases. These biomarkers were then excreted and detected in urine for monitoring diseases such as pneumonia, ovarian cancer and lung cancer. The researchers have now developed biomarkers that could be...