Â
Â
According to research published in Science Daily, using DNA ‘nanobait’ test can identify many respiratory viruses at the same time, including influenza, rhinovirus, RSV, and COVID-19. Although polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests are very reliable, they provide data slowly (after several hours) and can only detect one virus at a time.
Even though many respiratory viruses have similar symptoms, each has a unique treatment plan. According to the study’s authors, because of its capacity to screen for many viruses at the same time, this test has the potential to minimize the improper use of antibiotics.
Furthermore, the tests are easily adaptable to identify other bacteria and viruses, such as any emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants that might cause COVID-19. The study’s findings were published in Nature Nanotechnology. With the arrival of the winter cold, flu, and RSV season in the northern hemisphere, healthcare practitioners must make split-second judgments concerning patient management.
Researchers at Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory wanted to explore whether they could search for many viruses at the same time since “many respiratory viruses have similar symptoms but require separate treatments,” as the paper’s first author, Filip Bokovi, stated.
Bokovi’s personal experience influences his studies because he spent much time in the hospital as a child due to a high fever. His condition perplexed doctors until the introduction of PCR equipment.
“Good diagnostics are the cornerstone of successful therapies,” said Bokovi, a Ph.D. student at St. John’s College, Cambridge. “Patients may present for treatment while carrying many viruses; without the ability to differentiate between viruses, improper medication may be administered.”
Since a small portion of the genome must be replicated millions of times, robust, sensitive, and accurate assays such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) take many hours to perform. The researchers at Cambridge wanted to create a way for directly detecting viruses using RNA rather than duplicating their genomes.
“We know that early detection improves patient survival,” said co-author Professor Stephen Baker of the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease.
“Such a test might be used by healthcare staff anywhere, in the UK or any low- or middle-income setting” to ensure patients get the right prescription as quickly as possible and to limit unnecessary antibiotics. The researchers expected formations containing double DNA and single overhanging strands would fail their test.
These isolated strands serve as “bait” since they are engineered to recognize and attach to specific RNA sequences found in dangerous viruses. Once within the body, the nanopores transport the nanobaits to their final destinations.
Nanopore sensing works similarly to a ticker tape reader, transforming chemical molecules into digital information in milliseconds. Each nanobait has a distinct structure that may be used to identify which virus or viral variant it is dealing with.
The study’s authors demonstrated how readily the test might be adapted to identify and discriminate COVID-19 from other viral strains. The method achieves near-perfect specificity thanks to programmable nanobait architectures.
“This technique beautifully mixes emerging technology to address numerous present restrictions in one shot,” Baker says. “One of our most difficult challenges is identifying pathogenic organisms quickly and properly. The quickness, cheap cost, accessibility, and diversity of this technology make it an interesting potential for the diagnostics sector.”
“Nanobait is based on DNA nanotechnology and will allow for many more intriguing uses in the future,” says Keyser of the Cavendish Laboratory. “We need to develop our nanopore technology into a portable device for commercial uses and wide distribution,” they said.
