EAGER: Colorimetric Detection of Zika and other Viruses Through Their Surface Proteins and Nucleic Acids

研究人员将开发可现场部署的廉价传感器，以检测致命和致病病毒，并将寨卡病毒作为一个具体例子来证明其可行性。建议的传感器在检测到特定病毒时将改变颜色，而不需要重复进行DNA测序和放大，这需要时间，而且对全球部署来说代价高昂。寨卡病毒预计将于今年夏天在拉丁美洲重新出现，并影响我们的城市，如迈阿密。该系统可用于检测埃博拉病毒、克里米亚刚果出血热和拉沙热等许多其他病毒。聚合酶链式反应试剂盒目前可用于检测ZIKV病毒，但很耗时，而且不能在农村地区部署。研究人员提议开发一种适体水凝胶，该适体水凝胶具有嵌入的互补链，附着在ZIKV的表面蛋白质上，并通过其多孔腔吸收它们，使水凝胶经历(100%)体积和(~30%)由其嵌入的直径50 nm的金纳米颗粒引起的颜色变化。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The investigator will develop field-deployable, inexpensive sensors to detect deadly and pathogenic viruses, in general, and Zika virus as a specific example to demonstrate feasibility. The proposed sensors will change their color when they detect specific viruses without any need for recurring DNA sequencing and amplification that requires time and are expensive for global deployment. Zika virus is expected to re-emerge this summer in Latin America and affect our cities such as Miami. The system can be adopted to detection of many other viruses such as Ebola, Crimean Congo hemorrhage fever, and Lassa fever. Polymerase chain reaction kits are currently available to detect the ZIKV virus but are time consuming and cannot be deployed in rural areas. The investigator is proposing to developing an aptamer hydrogel with embedded complementary strands that attach to the surface proteins of the ZIKV and absorbs them through its porous cavities causing the hydrogel to undergo (100%) volume and (~30%) color change caused by its embedded 50 nm diameter gold nano-particles.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.