The occurrence of coronavirus makes masks play an important role in our life. So is there a mask that can detect the coronavirus spread in the air? The following Siyuan medical device manufacturers will learn about it with the Science and Technology Daily:
If there is a nucleic acid biosensor that can be embedded in the fabric, can it detect bacteria and viral pathogens in the air, including coronavirus? According to a paper published in the British magazine Nature Biotechnology on 29th, the team of American Scientists successfully developed wearable, freeze-dried and cell-free synthetic biological sensors using CRISPR technology, the test results can not only be consistent with the laboratory results regarded as gold standard, but also be embedded in flexible matrix for real-time and dynamic monitoring of target pathogens. In the near future, this technology can be combined with masks for people with high risk of pathogen exposure in the working environment, such as grassroots medical staff.
Using synthetic biology technology, nucleic acid biosensors for detecting pathogens can achieve high sensitivity and accuracy. This type of diagnostic tool contains genes code circuit that can detect nucleic acid of pathogens, and is often used in traditional instant diagnosis to detect pathogens such as coronavirus.
If this synthetic biology technology is integrated into wearable devices, the monitoring of pathogens or toxins can be greatly improved. However, although researchers have reported many times that the freeze-dried pathogen detection circuit is embedded into flexible clothing fabrics, and fabrics that can encapsulate bacteria with sensing ability have been developed before, however, it is very difficult to integrate and maintain microorganisms in engineering transformation.
Now scientists believe that cell-free synthetic biological sensors can overcome these limitations. This time, James Collins, a researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his colleagues, produced a group of wearable, freeze-dried, cell-free synthetic biological sensors using CRISPR technology, these sensors can detect the existence of virus-specific genetic material through rehydration activation.
Experiments show that the performance of these wearable sensors at present is consistent with the laboratory test results regarded as gold standard. Moreover, this sensor can be embedded into flexible matrices such as silicone rubber and silicon fabric, realize real-time and dynamic monitoring of target pathogen exposure.
Researchers said that this technology can also be combined with masks to detect the new coronavirus spread in the air. The successful embedding of synthetic biological sensors in wearable fabrics is the first step to create multifunctional intelligent clothing, which is expected to realize a wider range of applications such as biomedicine.
