2024-08-07 14:33:32
A domestic research team has developed the world’s first biosensor that can diagnose the coronavirus and dozens of its variants in just a few seconds.
This is expected to make a significant contribution to preventing the spread of infectious diseases as it is 1,000 times faster than existing analysis methods and has high sensitivity and specificity.
A research team led by Professor Han Ho-seong and Senior Researcher Kim Sang-tae of the Department of Surgery at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital and Professor Park Jeong-su of the Department of Laboratory Medicine announced on the 7th that they had developed a label-free multi-biosensor that can detect various antigens from a patient’s saliva, nasal mucus, sweat, and urine within seconds through electrochemical reactions.
Since the last COVID-19 pandemic, various variants of the COVID-19 virus have continuously emerged, but there has been a limitation in accurately and quickly identifying the variants.
Currently, field rapid diagnostic kits using antibody and antigen reactions, laboratory-based expensive PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) are commonly used for diagnosing infectious diseases.
However, according to the research team, the newly developed biosensor system is 1,000 times faster than existing antibody-based rapid diagnostic kits or ELISA analysis methods, and has high sensitivity and specificity, allowing it to detect even trace amounts of antigen.
In particular, our self-developed aptamer (WQCSA) is designed to recognize various antigens in structural forms, enabling the detection of dozens of variants.
The aptamer mentioned here is a substance that binds to a specific molecule and, like an antibody, binds to the target molecule with high affinity and specificity, so it is called a ‘chemical antibody’.
Unlike antibodies that bind to a single site, aptamers recognize the three-dimensional shape of the target protein, so they are more selective for the target than antibodies and can be easily mass-produced at low cost.
The research team conducted tests using a biosensor developed by the research team, and detected various COVID-19 virus variants at concentrations of up to 10 femtomoles (fM), demonstrating high sensitivity and specificity. The concentration of a substance in the body is expressed in units of ‘mol’, and femtomole means one quadrillionth of a mole.
Professor Han Ho-seong introduced the biosensor as “a multi-antigen multi-biosensing technology that accurately detects the COVID-19 virus and dozens of variants based on the flexible structural combination of aptamers,” and said, “It can be used as an efficient diagnostic tool that can detect variant antigens inexpensively and quickly.”
Professor Park Jeong-su expressed his expectations, saying, “The multi-biosensor system developed by the research team this time is expected to greatly contribute to early detection of diseases and prevention of the spread of infectious diseases.”
(Seoul = News 1)
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2024-08-07 14:33:32