Host: Ryan Quigley

Guest: Hallie Blevins, PhD.

Guest: Marlene Mimi Maeusli, PhD.

With one in three eligible Americans still unscreened for colorectal cancer (CRC), there’s an urgent need for noninvasive and affordable alternatives to colonoscopy. A 2025 study published in ACS Sensors introduces a novel aptamer-based colorimetric assay that targets Parvimonas micra—a gut microbe linked to CRC. To learn more, Mr. Ryan Quigley speaks with Drs. Hallie Blevins and Mimi Maeusli about how this technology works, what sets it apart from current testing methods, and why it could play a role in improving early CRC detection.

Reference:

Feng S, Zhang P, Chen H, et al. Au@Fe3O4 nanoparticle-based colorimetric aptasensor for noninvasive screening of colorectal cancer via detection of Parvimonas micra. ACS Sens. 2025;10(2):1053-1062.