Advances in Gene Therapy: New Study on Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Biosensing

A new study on gene therapy, conducted by researchers at Southeast University in Nanjing, People's Republic of China, has made significant progress in developing nucleic acid amplification-based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) methods for in vitro and in vivo biosensing. The research, supported by the Frontier Technologies R & D Program of Jiangsu, combines SERS technology with nucleic acid amplification to detect various biomolecules, such as DNAs, RNAs, and proteins, with high sensitivity and selectivity.

Key Takeaways:

• The study utilized surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), a highly effective optical analysis technology, to detect biomolecules with excellent sensitivity and selectivity.
• Nucleic acid amplification was used in combination with SERS technology to facilitate in vitro and in vivo detection of biomolecules.
• The research gave a comprehensive overview of the progress in developing nucleic acid amplification-based SERS methods for biosensing.
• The sensing mechanism, features, and practical applications of nucleic acid amplification-based SERS methods were summarized in the study.
• Challenges and future prospects in the field of nucleic acid amplification-based SERS biosensing were discussed.
• Researchers Juan Hu, Baomei Zhou, Yun Han, Rui Song, and Chun-yang Zhang from Southeast University were involved in the study.
• Financial support for the research came from the Frontier Technologies R & D Program of Jiangsu.

Statistics:

• The research used SERS technology to detect DNAs, RNAs, ionics, antibiotics, toxins, antigens, enzymes, proteins, extracellular vesicles (EVs), circulating tumor cells (CTCs), and bacteria with excellent sensitivity.
• The study used nucleic acid amplification to facilitate in vitro and in vivo detection of biomolecules.
• The research concluded that the combination of SERS technology with nucleic acid amplification is a highly effective method for biosensing.

Sources:

• NewsRx. New Gene Therapy Findings from Southeast University Reported (Recent Advance In Nucleic Acid Amplification-based Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering For In Vitro And In Vivo Biosensing). Cancer Gene Therapy Week. November 3, 2025; p 31.
• Trac-trends In Analytical Chemistry, 2025;192, Recently Advance In Nucleic Acid Amplification-based Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering For In Vitro And In Vivo Biosensing.
• Southeast University, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, State Key Lab Digital Med Engn, Nanjing 211189, People's Republic of China.