Nat Biotech: Black technology!

In daily life, most people will be "wearable device" and the term smart watch, bracelet, wireless headsets linked

Nowadays, with the continuous advancement of science and technology, these science fictions are gradually turning into reality

On June 28, 2021, researchers from the Wyss Institute of Bio-Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology published a research paper titled: Wearable materials with embedded synthetic biology sensors for biomolecule detection in the journal Nature Biotechnology

The research developed a wearable synthetic biological biosensor based on CRISPR technology to detect pathogens and toxins in the environment and warn the wearer by emitting fluorescence

The user can activate the detection system in the mask with a button and provide a detection result comparable to the current standard nucleic acid diagnostic test within 90 minutes

In fact, long before the COVID-19 pandemic, Professor Jim Collins, the corresponding author of the paper, led his research team to start related research

In 2015, Jim Collins and others applied this technique to the diagnosis of Zika virus for the first time

Based on this, after successfully implanting the biosensor into the paper, Jim Collins and others turned their attention to wearable devices

Therefore, the research team began to study whether wearable freeze-drying cell-free technology (wFDCF) could solve this problem.

Wearable freeze-drying cell-free technology (wFDCF)

The research team has integrated many research institutions and resources to develop wearable masks that can detect the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), including the CRISPR-Cas13a-based virus detection system SHERLOCK developed by Feng Zhang.

Steps to use diagnostic masks based on wFCDF technology

The first reaction can destroy the protein coat of the new coronavirus and expose its internal RNA; the second reaction is a normal temperature PCR amplification step, which can specifically amplify the gene fragment of the spike protein (S protein) of the new coronavirus; The final reaction uses the SHERLOCK technology based on CRISPR-Cas13a to detect the S gene.

About SHERLOCK technology: Zhang Feng released the detailed operation method of SHERLOCK technology to detect new coronavirus

In short, this is similar to a common early pregnancy test strip.

Detection principle diagram

The wFDCF mask developed by this research is the first high-accuracy new coronavirus nucleic acid detection device that can be operated at room temperature.

Professor Jim Collins said: “This research shows that freeze-dried, cell-free synthetic biology technology can be extended to wearable devices and used in new diagnostic applications, including the development of mask diagnostics

Wearable mask that can diagnose SARS-CoV-2

Not only that, in the paper, the researchers also proved that the optical fiber network can be integrated into the wFCDF technology to quantitatively detect the fluorescence generated by the biological reaction, and produce a more objective and convincing quantitative data, and the digital signal is also It can be sent to a smart phone application to allow the wearer to monitor various substances in real time

More importantly, this wFCDF technology also has a very broad application prospect, and it can be integrated into wearables such as masks and clothes

wFCDF technology has strong integration flexibility and very broad application prospects

All in all, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the research team led by Professor Jim Collins created a powerful tool to fight the deadly epidemic-a diagnostic mask based on wFCDF technology
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What's more impressive is that these wearable biosensors can not only be applied to the detection of new coronaviruses, but also can respond to a wide range of health threats
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It is reported that the team is actively looking for partners who are interested in helping to mass-produce mask diagnostic tools that can be used during the COVID-19 pandemic and detect other biological and environmental hazards
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Original source:

Nguyen, PQ, Soenksen, LR, Donghia, NM et al.
Wearable materials with embedded synthetic biology sensors for biomolecule detection.
Nat Biotechnol (2021).
https://doi.
org/10.
1038/s41587-021-00950-3.