COVID-19: APTAMER-BASED DIAGNOSTICS KIT FOR THE EARLY AND RAPID DETECTION OF COVIDS

APTA-COVID的目标是开发一种**用户友好的试剂盒**，用于早期和快速诊断COVID(及其未来的突变体)感染。计算机模拟将使识别相对较小的分子(称为适配子)的库成为可能，这些分子能够识别新冠肺炎尖峰的不同结构域。这些分子将被嫁接到磁性纳米颗粒上，成为**捕获、浓缩和检测口腔拭子/唾液样本中少量病毒的强大工具**。要做到这一点，只需将磁性纳米颗粒与样本孵化15分钟，用磁铁吸引它们，在清洗掉多余的之后，用标记有荧光分子的自由适配子孵化它们15分钟：每个适配子识别不同的病毒尖峰结构域。在最后一次清洗后，在廉价紫外线手电筒照射下发出荧光的颗粒将发出病毒存在的信号。这个试剂盒将比目前可用的试剂盒(1000个样品50 GB)更具成本效益。更多的人将在较短的时间内接受检测，从而能够更早地发现感染和绘制暴发的地理地图，从而使临床医生和决策者能够迅速采取行动。

APTA-COVID aims to develop **a user-friendly kit** for the early and fast diagnosis of COVID (and its future mutants) infection. Computer modelling will enable the identification of a library of relatively small molecules (called aptamers) able to recognise different domains of the COVID-19 spikes. These molecules will be grafted on to magnetic nanoparticles to become **a powerful tool to capture, concentrate and detect small amounts of viruses in oral swabs/saliva samples**. This will be done by incubating the magnetic nanoparticles with the sample for only 15 min, attracting them with a magnet and after washing out the excess, incubate them for 15 min with free aptamers tagged with fluorescent molecules: each recognising a different virus spike domain. After a final wash, particles that fluoresce under illumination with an inexpensive UV torch will signal the presence of the virus. This kit will be much more cost-effective than the one currently available (£50 for 1000 samples). More individuals will be tested in a shorter time period thus enabling earlier detection of infection and geographical mapping of outbreaks enabling fast actions by clinicians and policymakers.