SARS-CoV-2 is a human pathogen and the main cause of COVID-19 disease, announced as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. COVID-19 is characterized by severe conditions, and early diagnosis can make dramatic changes for both personal and public health. Low-cost, easy-to-use diagnostic capabilities can have a very critical role in controlling the transmission of the disease. Here, we are reporting a state-of-the-art diagnostic tool developed with an in vitro synthetic biology approach by employing engineered de novo riboregulators. Our design coupled with a home-made point-of-care device can detect and report the presence of SARS-CoV-2-specific genes. The presence of SARS-CoV-2-related genes triggers the translation of sfGFP mRNAs, resulting in a green fluorescence output. The approach proposed here has the potential of being a game changer in SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics by providing an easy-to-run, low-cost diagnostic capability.

The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) is continuously infecting people all around the world since its outbreak in 2019. Studies for numerous infection detection strategies are continuing. The sensitivity of detection methods is crucial to separate people with mild infections from people who are asymptomatic. In this sense, a strategy that would help to capture and isolate the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus prior to tests can be effective and beneficial. To this extent, genetically engineered biomaterials grounding from the biofilm protein of Escherichia coli are beneficial due to their robustness and adaptability to various application areas. Through functionalizing the E. coli biofilm protein, diverse properties can be attained such as enzyme display, nanoparticle production, and medical implant structures. Here, E. coli species are employed to express major curli protein CsgA and Griffithsin (GRFT) as fusion proteins, through a complex formation using SpyTag and SpyCatcher domains. In this study, a complex system with a CsgA scaffold harboring the affinity of GRFT against Spike protein to capture and isolate SARS‐CoV‐2 virus is successfully developed. It is shown that the hybrid recombinant protein can dramatically increase the sensitivity of currently available lateral flow assays for Sars‐CoV‐2 diagnostics.

Sars-CoV-2 is a human pathogen and is the main cause of COVID-19 disease. COVID-19 is announced as a global pandemic by World Health Organization. COVID-19 is characterized by severe conditions and early diagnosis can make dramatic changes both for personal and public health. In order to increase the reach for low cost equipment which requires a very limited technical knowledge can be beneficial to diagnose the viral infection. Such diagnostic capabilities can have a very critical role to control the transmission of the disease. Here we are reporting a state-of-the-art diagnostic tool developed by using an in vitro synthetic biology approach by employing engineered de novo riboregulators. Our design coupled with a home-made point-of-care device setting can detect and report presence of Sars-CoV-2 specific genes. The presence of Sars-CoV-2 related genes triggers translation of sfGFP mRNAs, resulting in green fluorescence output. The approach proposed here has the potential of being a game changer in Sars-COV-2 diagnostics by providing an easy-to-run, low-cost-demanding diagnostic capability.

No abstract

The number of synthetic biology based solutions employed in the medical industry is growing every year. The whole cell biosensors being one of them, have been proven valuable tools for developing low-cost, portable, personalized medicine alternatives to conventional techniques. Based on this concept, we targeted one of the major health problems in the world, Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). To do so, we developed two novel biosensors for the detection of two important renal biomarkers; urea and uric acid. Using advanced gene expression control strategies we improved the operational range and the response profiles of each biosensor to meet clinical specifications. We further engineered these systems to enable multiplexed detection as well as an AND-logic gate operating system. Finally, we tested the applicability of these systems and optimized their working dynamics inside complex medium human blood serum. This study could help the efforts to transition from labor-intensive and expensive laboratory techniques to widely available, portable, low cost diagnostic options.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract