Sébastien Hentz

Host Institution : CEA

Laboratory : Léti

Call for projects : Consolidator (PE7)

Project name : ENLIGHTENED – Nanophotonic Nanomechanical Mass Spectrometry for Biology and Health

Amount : 2 M€

Description : 

Mass Spectrometry has become a routine analytical tool in modern biological research, and has gained in recent years a foothold in the realm of clinical diagnostic and screening. However, it is still costly, complex and because its principle relies on ionization, it is incapable of analyzing biomolecules with masses greater than a few MDa. Averaging more than 100 million particles per measurement, it is also incapable of characterizing the diversity of such heavy entities. ENLIGHTENED aims at demonstrating a breakthrough concept based on Photonic Nano-Mechanical Mass Spectrometry, able to perform analysis of bioparticles of high biomedical significance, of ultra-high mass, never so far characterized, with single-molecule sensitivity and unprecedented resolution. The long-term vision beyond the current proposal is to provide the biologists with a tool which will be transformative for fundamental knowledge, and to make possible cheap, handheld devices for personalized medicine. ENLIGHTENED proposes to use photons to shed light on unexplored species at the individual level, which is of high biomedical significance and will expand our understanding of simple life forms.