RAPID: Developing a novel biosensor for rapid, direct and selective detection of COVID-19 using DNA aptamer-nanopore

为了应对COVID-19疫情，伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校的卢教授和伊利诺伊大学芝加哥分校的荣教授合作开发了一种新的、可广泛应用的检测传染性冠状病毒（SARS-CoV-2）的方法。 感测方法被设计成能够区分感染性病毒与非感染性病毒以及其他病毒和干扰物种。 传染性病毒的快速和准确检测为患者提供了早期接受适当治疗的机会，防止患者在不知不觉中将传染性病毒传播给他人，消除了对非传染性患者的不必要隔离，并能够评估关键位置的表面是否已适当消毒。 本研究旨在开发一种模块化和可扩展的适体-纳米孔传感器，用于直接检测完整的冠状病毒。 具体来说，这项研究将鉴定和合成DNA适体，结合传染性SARS-CoV-2，但不结合非传染性形式，具有高特异性和亲和力。 将使用稳态测量来检测单个纳米通道膜中的传染性SARS-CoV-2，这比常用的电阻脉冲传感技术资源密集度低。 该传感方法不需要样品预处理或RNA扩增，因此简化了测试程序，并最大限度地减少了交叉污染的机会。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。

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Prof. Lu of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Prof. Rong of the University of Illinois at Chicago collaborate to develop a novel, widely deployable method for detecting the infectious coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The sensing method is designed to enable differentiation of infectious virus from those rendered non-infectious, as well as other viruses and interfering species. Rapid and accurate detection of the infectious viruses provides to patients the opportunity to receive proper treatments early on, prevents patients from unknowingly spreading the infectious virus to others, eliminates unnecessary quarantine of non-contagious patients, and enables assessment of whether surfaces at critical locations has been properly disinfected. This research aims to develop a modular and scalable aptamer-nanopore sensor for direct detection of the intact coronavirus. Specifically, this research will identify and synthesize DNA aptamers that bind the infectious SARS-CoV-2, but not the non-infectious forms, with high specificity and affinity. Detection of infectious SARS-CoV-2 in the single nanochannel membrane will be performed using steady-state measurements, which is less resource intensive than the commonly used resistive pulse sensing technique. The sensing method does not require sample pre-treatment or RNA amplification and, thus, simplifies the testing procedure and minimizes the chance of cross contamination.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.