Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization (ROMP) Coupled Lateral Flow Analysis for Portable BioSensing

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The PI has begun the development of an intriguing amplification alternative to PCR that could potentially be much simpler and more cost-effective. The PI's previous work on a free-radical "amplification?by-polymerization" approach demonstrated that it was possible to detect fewer than 2000 copies of DNA, with false positive and false negative rates comparable to PCR. This proposal seeks to extend this novel approach by using Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization (ROMP), as a way to avoid the problems oxygen plays with free-radical polymerization and to combine ROMP with lateral flow assay as the basis of a new fieldable biosensor. The proposed research is transformative and has the potential and has the potential to become the basis of a field assay and have an impact in several biomedical sensing areas. These results will be used to improve the efficiency of using ROMP for amplifying the presence of target analytes and could serve as a first-line screening for, e.g., cytomegalovirus (CMV). The PI has an excellent record for training underrepresented minorities at all levels and this proposed work will add to that outreach effort. Her productivity under the previous CAREER is quite good with 16 publications and 21 conference talks.