Is there an early warning system for… seizures?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Seizures often strike when potassium levels in the brain suddenly shift. But SPOTLIGHTING these shifts is hard. Potassium moves fast and in amounts too small to track. Until now…
Enter Daishun Ling and team at Zhejiang University in China. They created a nanosensor so small that millions can sit on a pinhead!
Inside is a light-based potassium detector, wrapped in a membrane that only lets POTASSIUM sneak in. When it arrives…FLASH! In mouse brains, the sensor revealed exactly where potassium surged!
Seeing these sparks in real time could help scientists uncover how seizures begin!
Now that’s a bright breakthrough!
Reference: Liu, J., Li, F., Wang, Y. et al. A sensitive and specific nanosensor for monitoring extracellular potassium levels in the brain. Nat. Nanotechnol. 15, 321–330 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-020-0634-4shifts