Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ROBOT Sensing (Reconfigurable Bio-nano Hybrid Metasurface for Biosensing)
Reporting period: 2021-05-01 to 2023-04-30
In today’s world, with a growing population and increased life expectancy, there is an increasing demand for accurate identification of infectious substances affecting our health. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of innovation for timely and precise testing results to support proper medical interventions for individuals, public health decisions in disease control, and global health surveillance.
Traditional laboratory tests have been the gold standard in detecting infectious molecular biomarkers. However, they are time-consuming, resource-intensive, and costly, hindering them from on-site point-of-care use, which is crucial for providing rapid results. Nanotechnology offers a promising solution for developing practical point-of-care nanobiosensors. Still, technical innovation and sustainability challenges persist, mainly due to the sophisticated equipment required and the high dependency on trained specialised expertise in nanodevice fabrication and utilization. It limits their potential for future practical use.
In light of this, the EU-funded MSCA-IF project ‘ROBOT Sensing’ focuses on improving the reliability of nanobiosensing device fabrication. ROBOT Sensing explores new approaches from the interdisciplinary effort between biotechnology, nanotechnology, and material science. The goal is to overcome the current barriers towards sustainable device fabrication, as well as the downstream practical performance for future point-of-care diagnostics.
Traditional laboratory tests have been the gold standard in detecting infectious molecular biomarkers. However, they are time-consuming, resource-intensive, and costly, hindering them from on-site point-of-care use, which is crucial for providing rapid results. Nanotechnology offers a promising solution for developing practical point-of-care nanobiosensors. Still, technical innovation and sustainability challenges persist, mainly due to the sophisticated equipment required and the high dependency on trained specialised expertise in nanodevice fabrication and utilization. It limits their potential for future practical use.
In light of this, the EU-funded MSCA-IF project ‘ROBOT Sensing’ focuses on improving the reliability of nanobiosensing device fabrication. ROBOT Sensing explores new approaches from the interdisciplinary effort between biotechnology, nanotechnology, and material science. The goal is to overcome the current barriers towards sustainable device fabrication, as well as the downstream practical performance for future point-of-care diagnostics.
Throughout the ROBOT Sensing project, we have made significant process in fundamental science and applied research. We leveraged DNA nanotechnology to fabricate reconfigurable bio-nano hybrid nanostructures, and we could obtain groundbreaking optical activity. We established unique know-how on the reliable and sustainable fabrication of these bio-nano hybrid nanostructures and evaluated the scaled production and development cycle, highlighting three main advantages: 1. low production costs, 2. fast development cycle, 3. global sustainable production potential, to enable this innovation to be translated into a nanobiosensing device.
We also developed and evaluated our novel nanobiosensing scheme based on reconfigurable features in the bio-nano hybrid nanostructures, i.e. the reconfigurable mechanism of the nanostructure dynamically in response to various stimuli, such as different classes of biomolecules, including proteins, nucleic acids, and small molecules. The effective detection ensures its further use in detecting protein antigens and nucleic acid markers for disease screening, or specific antibodies against the target disease for evaluating the immune response. This rapid detection approach have advantages in 1. One-step detection, 2. Fast sample-to-result, enabling ease of use for the general public. It can effectively work with different biomedical samples, such as blood, without sample pre-processing or labor-intensive procedures. The ability to integrate the nanostructures on the surface as a bio-nano hybrid metasurface significantly boosts the detection sensitivity.
We also developed and evaluated our novel nanobiosensing scheme based on reconfigurable features in the bio-nano hybrid nanostructures, i.e. the reconfigurable mechanism of the nanostructure dynamically in response to various stimuli, such as different classes of biomolecules, including proteins, nucleic acids, and small molecules. The effective detection ensures its further use in detecting protein antigens and nucleic acid markers for disease screening, or specific antibodies against the target disease for evaluating the immune response. This rapid detection approach have advantages in 1. One-step detection, 2. Fast sample-to-result, enabling ease of use for the general public. It can effectively work with different biomedical samples, such as blood, without sample pre-processing or labor-intensive procedures. The ability to integrate the nanostructures on the surface as a bio-nano hybrid metasurface significantly boosts the detection sensitivity.
The ROBOT Sensing project has advanced nanobiosensing by utilising innovative plasmonic nanostructures for visual-based detection. This versatile analyte detection approach can be turned into potential practical products and be tailored to detect any target of interest to pave the way for the shift from centralised laboratory testing to decentralised point-of-care diagnostics, meeting the growing demand for health monitoring of chronic and infectious diseases in the next decade. Our next-generation point-of-care diagnostic platform enables simple at-home tests that deliver immediate results. It will benefit public health by tackling future disease outbreaks or pandemics threats.
Furthermore, this versatile analyte detection approach has applications beyond healthcare, including environmental and food safety. It could easily revolutionize the detection of pathogens or toxins with our detection tool, aiding food sellers and consumers in reducing food waste while ensuring food safety and contributing to better food date marking practices aligned with the EU actions against food waste.
Beyond its direct applications in novel sensing schemes, the cutting-edge innovation we developed for ROBOT Sensing has contributed to scientific advancement in optics, particularly in active plasmonics. The advancement benefits multiple disciplines, such as the development of future plasmonic circuits for computing and enhanced plasmonic displays, which fosters cross-disciplinary innovation and sustainability.
Furthermore, this versatile analyte detection approach has applications beyond healthcare, including environmental and food safety. It could easily revolutionize the detection of pathogens or toxins with our detection tool, aiding food sellers and consumers in reducing food waste while ensuring food safety and contributing to better food date marking practices aligned with the EU actions against food waste.
Beyond its direct applications in novel sensing schemes, the cutting-edge innovation we developed for ROBOT Sensing has contributed to scientific advancement in optics, particularly in active plasmonics. The advancement benefits multiple disciplines, such as the development of future plasmonic circuits for computing and enhanced plasmonic displays, which fosters cross-disciplinary innovation and sustainability.