RAPID: A rapid and ultrasensitive technology for sensing intact SARS-CoV-2 using designer DNA nanostructure capture probes and photonic resonator interference scattering microscopy

COVID-19疫情的快速发展凸显了现有病毒检测和识别技术的不足。 缺乏广泛的检测手段，加上假阴性检测率很高，导致检疫失败，并使卫生当局和公众感到困惑。 研究人员建议将联合收割机生物传感和生物光子学方法相结合，开发并证明一种快速、室温、单步、病毒特异性和超灵敏的COVID-19数字分辨率检测方法，该方法可以在护理点采集样本后立即进行，并在不到15分钟的时间内提供结果。研究人员和他的团队最近证明，光子晶体表面可以放大表面附着的纳米颗粒（包括病毒粒子）的光散射，并且一种新形式的生物传感器显微镜称为光子共振干涉散射显微镜（PRISM）可以检测和数字计数病毒颗粒在真实的时间，而无需使用额外的标签或染色剂。 该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The rapid development of the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the shortcomings in existing technologies for viral detection and identification. The lack of widespread availability of testing, combined with a high rate of false negative tests, contribute to quarantine failure and confusion among health authorities and the public. The investigator proposes to combine biosensing and biophotonics approaches to develop and demonstrate a rapid, room temperature, single-step, virus-specific, and ultrasensitive digital resolution assay for COVID-19 that can be performed immediately after sample collection at the point of care, and provide a result in less than 15 minutes. The investigator and his group recently demonstrated that a photonic crystal surface can amplify the scattering of light from surface-attached nanoparticles, including virions, and that a new form of biosensor microscopy called Photonic Resonator Interference Scattering Microscopy (PRISM) can detect and digitally count the virus particles in real time, without the use of additional labels or stains. These technologies will be rapidly adapted and tested for COVID-19 detection.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.