Project description
More convenient detection of Norovirus
Noroviruses (NoV) are the most common causes of foodborne disease. Infection causes acute gastroenteritis. During an outbreak, rapid diagnostic testing is essential to screen and manage patients. In this context, the CHAMPION project funded under Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions will develop a high-specificity and -sensitivity diagnostic kit that is easy to use, cheap and convenient. While current tests are designed for use in well-equipped laboratories by trained technicians, CHAMPION’s test can be administered anywhere. The test has a rapid and non-enzymatic nucleic acid amplification system employing catalytic hairpin assembly reaction coupled with a paper strip that can detect NoV from food matrices.
Objective
CHAMPION aims to develop a rapid, point-of-need (PON) diagnostic kit for the detection of Noroviruses (NoV), one of the leading causes of foodborne infectious disease outbreaks. The main motivations to perform this work is to provide an easy-to-use, economically convenient and standardized NoV diagnostic kit with high specificity and sensitivity Currently, the most effective protocol is the real time PCR (RT-PCR) for the detection of NoV from food matrices. However, RT-PCR assays are designed for use in well-equipped laboratories with sophisticated laboratory infrastructure and highly trained technicians, and are unsuitable for use in limited infrastructure of or in the field. The CHAMPION aims to facilitates and development of, rapid and non-enzymatic nucleic acid amplification system employing catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA) reaction coupled with a paper strip that can detect NoV from food matrices. Thus, the CHAMPION incorporates the pre-concentration, CHA signal amplification, specific detection and signal visualization in a single miniaturized device. Thus, it can be anticipated that the long-term outcomes of the proposed work will deliver a novel, accurate, rapid and reliable diagnostic assay for the detection of NoV.
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinator
4715-330 Braga
Portugal