EAST LANSING, Mich. — Lasers capable of everything from monitoring diseases to enhancing metabolic studies of drug interactions are the future of modern medicine and promise to draw high-tech jobs to Michigan.
Michigan State University chemistry professor Marcos Dantus and colleagues Daniel Jones and Gavin Reid have developed lasers with rapid, ultra-short pulses that allow researchers to manipulate molecules in fractions of a second, shorter than the time it takes the atoms to move.
“This kind of science that I’m working on – we call it smart laser technology – is using properties of lasers that have not been exploited before,” Dantus said. “It’s also a special type of laser with a tremendous number of applications.”
Smart laser technology soon will give health care professionals the ability to analyze all the molecules in our bodies, arming doctors, chemists and drug makers with precise information.
Drug side effects are common problems for both consumers and the pharmaceutical industry. Once a drug enters the body, it undergoes chemical changes that may result in side effects such as a headache or something more serious, yet current technology has at best a 50-50 chance of unraveling the chemical problem.
The ability to break apart and analyze any molecular compound may lead to a much greater rate of success. Smart laser technology makes controlled fragmentation of a molecular compound a reality.
“We can control the phase and amplitude of each frequency in the pulse to create a specific pulse sequence,” Dantus said. “This process is similar to writing music. In that sense, chemical bonds break according to what music is played by the laser.”
Once it’s known where in the chemical structure the side effect-causing transformation occurs, chemists can then deliver new, safer drugs.
“We’re certain that we’re going to bring the 50 percent success rate to better than 90 percent,” Dantus said. “That’s a big improvement.”
Laser analysis of blood has the potential to highlight the presence of disease-signaling compounds and show how thousands of blood components change when a patient is sick, allowing the earliest disease diagnosis possible. This could translate to better ways of monitoring diseases and smarter, target-specific drugs.
The lasers also could reduce the costs, time and risk associated with pharmaceutical testing.
Applications for Dantus’ smart laser technology extend beyond the pharmaceutical and medical fields. In the future, Dantus sees the lasers in the hands of homeland security agents in order to detect chemical, biological and explosive agents. The lasers also may be used as imaging and communication tools.
With such a variety of uses for Dantus’ research, smart laser technology promises to draw more high-tech jobs to the area.
The prospect of those new jobs earned the team $1.4 million through the state’s 21st Century Jobs Fund for further research, development and production of laser technology.The awards were established to promote research and industries in hopes of growing a more diverse state economy.
Clark-MXR, located in Dexter, was chosen to build the lasers themselves, while the commercial aspects, including software development and the formatting of other system components, is in the hands of Okemos-based BioPhotonic Solutions Inc.
As president and CEO of BioPhotonic Solutions, Dantus is doing his part to ensure Michigan’s high-tech job market has a bright future. He has already begun interviewing candidates for two positions with his company.
Dantus’ company is one of two SmartZone businesses that have been created in East Lansing’s downtown. In 2005, the cities of East Lansing and Lansing, Ingham County, MSU and various other partners agreed to form the Lansing Regional SmartZone to stimulate the growth of technology-based businesses in the Lansing region.
“The demand for high-tech jobs in Michigan starts immediately and will grow exponentially,” Dantus said. “This technology could draw as many as 150 new high-tech jobs to the state within the next five years.”
Dantus’ facilities showcase the latest laser equipment. This technology comes at a steep price with each laser valued at $350,000 or more.
“So is it worth spending the $350,000?” Dantus asked. “The thing is, if we develop this technology and if it fights disease and brings better drugs to everybody at a lower cost, then definitely it is worth it. I think that some wonderful things can come out of this technology.”
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Michigan State University has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through innovative teaching, research and outreach for 150 years. MSU is known internationally as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. Its 14 degree-granting colleges attract scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with practical problem solving.