Any particle with a target molecule on its surface will stick to the spin valve.

ECONOMIST: Labs on a chip

Auroras scientists use a fluorescent marker to tell them whether a candidate drug molecule has had an effect on the target molecule.

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To search for a target molecule, then, all that would be needed would be to sprinkle a sample thought to contain it with magnetic nanoparticles coated with the appropriate antibody or DNA and then run it over a spin valve.

ECONOMIST: Labs on a chip

Typically, it has taken pharmaceutical companies four or five years to go from gene target to small molecule.

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