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.
