SARS-CoV-2
variants are of particular interest because they can
potentially increase the transmissibility and virulence of COVID-19
or reduce the effectiveness of available vaccines. However, screening
SARS-CoV-2 variants is a challenge because biosensors target viral
components that can mutate. One promising strategy is to screen variants
via angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a virus receptor shared
by all known SARS-CoV-2 variants. Here we designed a highly sensitive
and portable COVID-19 screening biosensor based on the virus receptor.
We chose a dual-gate field-effect transistor to overcome the low sensitivity
of virus-receptor-based biosensors. To optimize the biosensor, we
introduced a synthetic virus that mimics the important features of
SARS-CoV-2 (size, bilayer structure, and composition). The developed
biosensor successfully detected SARS-CoV-2 in 20 min and showed sensitivity
comparable to that of molecular diagnostic tests (∼165 copies/mL).
Our results indicate that a virus-receptor-based biosensor can be
an effective strategy for screening infectious diseases to prevent
pandemics.
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