New solutions for personalised medicine – University of Oulu receives major EU funding for protein sequencing technology
A total of €3 million has been awarded to the RamanProSeq project, which focuses on cutting-edge protein research and is coordinated by the Tenure-track Assistant Professor and Academy Research Fellow Dr. Jianan Huang from the University of Oulu.
The project aims to develop a novel optical technology for sequencing individual protein molecules — a potential breakthrough in the fields of proteomics and personalised medicine. Proteomics is the study of all the proteins produced by a cell, tissue or organism. It helps researchers understand how proteins are formed, how they change and how they interact with each other in both health and disease.
The project combines plasmonic nanopore technologies with Raman spectroscopy to enable the reading of protein amino-acid sequences at single-amino-acid resolution without the need for labelling. This approach offers unprecedented accuracy in understanding protein structures and functions, with applications not only in medicine but also in agriculture and various areas of biological research.
“This technology will revolutionise the way we analyse proteins,” says Dr. Huang. “It has particular potential in personalised medicine, early disease diagnostics and drug development. In the long term, it could accelerate the diagnosis and monitoring of cancers and many genetic diseases.”
Beyond its scientific impact, the project also carries significant societal importance. It supports the growth of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, strengthens European innovation capacity, and creates new high-skill jobs across Europe.
In addition to the University of Oulu, the international consortium includes five European research institutions and universities: the University of Eastern Finland, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal), RWTH Aachen University (Germany), Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italy) and Nottingham Trent University (United Kingdom).