Periodic Reporting for period 1 - VIRUSong (Vibrations of viral particles scatter light)
Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2024-08-31
Everything vibrates! From stars to viruses. The aim of the VIRUSong project is to develop a technology based on the interaction of light with the vibration of these viral particles to detect and identify them in a few minutes by listening to their ‘songs’. To do this, we will use strategies based on inelastic light scattering spectroscopy techniques (Raman and Brillouin) that will be pushed to their current limits.
Recent pandemics have shown that rapid diagnosis is crucial to detect, isolate and treat patients at the earliest stage, but also to assess the evolution of the pandemic. VIRUSong will implement and carry out a simple and radically new method for identifying viral particles on the basis of their vibrations, by developing a new technology capable of identifying viral particles by light in a matter of minutes, achieving high selectivity (specific vibration signature) and improved sensitivity (down to single viral particles), while remaining accessible to most people because of its ease of implementation and cost. The technologies we are proposing to develop in VIRUSong can be applied to direct and indirect diagnosis, even when the virus is unknown. If our technology can detect the complete vibratory fingerprint of viruses, it could also monitor the vibratory fingerprint of an antibody. This opens the way to rapid determination of binding efficiency, which can be applied for direct diagnosis if the antibody is identified, and for indirect diagnosis by testing serological samples.
Recent pandemics have shown that rapid diagnosis is crucial to detect, isolate and treat patients at the earliest stage, but also to assess the evolution of the pandemic. VIRUSong will implement and carry out a simple and radically new method for identifying viral particles on the basis of their vibrations, by developing a new technology capable of identifying viral particles by light in a matter of minutes, achieving high selectivity (specific vibration signature) and improved sensitivity (down to single viral particles), while remaining accessible to most people because of its ease of implementation and cost. The technologies we are proposing to develop in VIRUSong can be applied to direct and indirect diagnosis, even when the virus is unknown. If our technology can detect the complete vibratory fingerprint of viruses, it could also monitor the vibratory fingerprint of an antibody. This opens the way to rapid determination of binding efficiency, which can be applied for direct diagnosis if the antibody is identified, and for indirect diagnosis by testing serological samples.
To achieve this ambitious objective, this project focused on characterizing the mechanical properties of viral particles, which are directly linked to their vibratory frequency and indirectly to their biological activity. The project brought together several techniques ranging from AFM to mass spectrometry and inelastic light scattering spectroscopy to improve our knowledge of the physical structure of viral particles. The relationship between vibration frequency and physical properties is at the heart of the project, and artificial intelligence will correlate all these measurements to facilitate the identification of viral particles in the future.
This first year was mainly devoted to setting the conditions required to implement the project. A first publication has nevertheless been accepted, which describes the faster slow frequency Raman microscope ever reported developed by CNRS-IF within the VIRUSong project.