Minerva Biotechnologies was founded in 1999 by Dr Cynthia Bamdad (inventor of the universal DNA chip & protein chip) to develop next generation biochips: nanoparticles coated with functionalized affinity surfaces. Minerva has developed user-friendly nanoparticles that the end user can utilize as a “black box technology”. The nanoparticle system can be fully automated and a range of nanoparticles have been developed so that the readout is compatible with existing lab equipment. In addition, the basic nanoparticles give an optical readout that is clearly visible with the naked eye, which is suitable for simple yes/no detection assays. The concept behind Minerva’s nanoparticles was the development of modular surface-coating components that are mixed and matched, then deposited onto nanoparticles. In this way, we generated a full menu of nanoparticles to suit the end-user’s specific needs. Currently available to the scientific community, we have nanoparticles bearing NTA-Ni2+ for use with histidine-tagged proteins and peptides (the most widely used affinity tag.
Fortuitously, while testing the nanoparticles in the first year of operations, Minerva scientists also discovered how the majority of cancer cells grow. Knowing how they grow showed the way to block that growth. Since then, the company has grown and continued to build functionalized nanoparticle technology while also focusing on elucidating the basic science of this cancer and stem cell growth mechanism.
Specialties
Stem Cell Research, Cancer Research, Gold Nanoparticles
