An international team of researchers has developed a nanosensor with which coronaviruses can supposedly be detected just as reliably as with a PCR test.
The method is also suitable for distinguishing between infectious and non-infectious viruses.
Sascha Zoske
Journalist in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.
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The scientists at the GSI-Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt manufactured the sensor together with colleagues from Argentina and the USA.
To do this, they shot thin polymer films in a GSI accelerator with individual, high-energy heavy particles - for example gold ions.
A tiny trace of damage is created where the ion passes the foil, which is converted into an open channel with a diameter of less than 50 nanometers by targeted etching.
DNA fragments recognize components of the virus
The researchers built DNA fragments into these channels, which, according to their statements, not only identify SARS-CoV-2 particles, but also recognize whether the viruses are still contagious. This is not possible with the usual PCR tests, but so far only with so-called plaque tests, which only provide results after days. With a nanopore sensor, however, the infectiousness can be determined within 30 minutes to two hours. In addition, it is not necessary to pretreat the sample.
The new method can also be used to detect other viruses, writes the GSI.
For this purpose, only molecules would have to be found that - like the DNA pieces in SARS-CoV2 - bind to certain virus structures.
According to their own presentation, the researchers have succeeded in applying the method to human adenoviruses, which cause respiratory infections.
Nanopores that are generated with ion beams could also be used as sensors for temperature, light, pH value and certain molecules, such as drugs.
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