A digital microfluidic platform to automate the synthesis of aptamer-based biosensors

在FRQNT拨款中，Shih和Wilds团队提出构建一个新的微流控平台，这将降低基因组工程的成本，从而能够加快基因组合成的步伐。我们在FRQNT基金中的目标是使用这个平台来自动化基因工程过程，这样新的细胞就可以快速地被设计用于各种合成生物学应用。在这个提案中，我们正在扩大应用空间，并利用我们的平台合成基于COVID-19适配体的生物传感器。由于其相对简单的配置，适体是稳定和高度敏感的检测许多应用（例如，疾病和环境监测）。适体通常是小的单链寡核苷酸，通常是合成设计和制造的。主要的挑战是目前合成这些适配体的技术导致产量非常低，特别是长度较长的适配体。因此，我们将与Carleton大学的Maria DeRosa博士合作，使用我们的自动化平台合成基于适配体的生物传感器。鉴于大流行，我们的目标是利用我们的自动化平台快速合成基于适配体的COVID-19生物传感器。我们相信，有了我们的系统，我们将能够找到能够快速检测COVID-19的适体，并在不到一小时的时间内在提供结果的地点找到结果。通过改进这些工作，我们可以使检测更容易、更有力，并有望结束“居家”命令。

In the FRQNT grant, the team of Shih and Wilds proposed to construct a new microfluidic platform that will drive down the costs of genome engineering which will be capable of accelerating the pace of genome synthesis. Our goal in the FRQNT grant is to use this platform to automate the genetic engineering process such that new cells can be quickly engineered for a variety of synthetic biology applications. Here in this proposal, we are expanding the application space and using our platform to synthesize COVID-19 aptamer-based biosensors. Due to their relatively simplistic configuration, aptamers are stable and highly sensitive for the detection of numerous applications (e.g., diseases and environmental monitoring). Typically aptamers are small, single-stranded oligonucelotides that are usually synthetically designed and manufactured. The main challenge is that the current technique to synthesize these aptamers result in very low yield, especially aptamers that are longer in length. Hence, we are joining forces with Dr. Maria DeRosa (Carleton University) to use our automated platform for the synthesis of aptamer-based biosensors. Given the pandemic, our goal is to use our automated platform to quickly synthesize aptamer-based biosensors for COVID-19. We believe with our system, we will be able to find aptamers that can rapidly detect COVID-19 with results in less than an hour at the location it was given. By improving on these efforts, we can make testing easier and more powerful with the hope of ending 'stay-at-home' orders.