Opportunities and Challenges for Biosensors and Nanoscale Analytical Tools for Pandemics: COVID-19

Abstract

Biosensors and nanoscale analytical tools have shown huge growth in literature in the past 20 years, with a large number of reports on the topic of 'ultrasensitive', 'cost-effective', and 'early detection' tools with a potential of 'massproduction' cited on the web of science. Yet none of these tools are commercially available in the market or practically viable for mass production and use in pandemic diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 . In this context, we review the technological challenges and opportunities of current bio/chemical sensors and analytical tools by critically analyzing the bottlenecks which have hindered the implementation of advanced sensing technologies in pandemic diseases. We also describe in brief COVID-19 by comparing it with other pandemic strains such as that of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) for the identification of features that enable biosensing. Moreover, we discuss visualization and characterization tools that can potentially be used not only for sensing applications but also to assist in speeding up the drug discovery and vaccine development process. Furthermore, we discuss the emerging monitoring mechanism, namely wastewater-based epidemiology, for early warning of the outbreak, focusing on sensors for rapid and on-site analysis of SARS-CoV2 in sewage. To conclude, we provide holistic insights into challenges associated with the quick translation of sensing technologies, policies, ethical issues, technology adoption, and an overall outlook of the role of the sensing technologies in pandemics.

Future developments in biosensors for field‐ready SARS‐CoV‐2 virus diagnostics

“…They are used as screening tests for the prognostics of the COVID-19 infection. Particularly, C-reactive protein (CRP), lymphocyte count, interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), platelet count, D-dimer, and serum-ferritin [10]. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that four methods perform SARS-CoV-2 detection: (1) real-time PCR that is a gold-standard method because of its high selectivity and relatively high sensitivity for detection of COVID-19 infection, (2) gene sequencing, (3) serological tests, and (4) chest computed tomography (CT) [11].…”

Mass Spectrometry and Structural Biology Techniques in the Studies on the Coronavirus-Receptor Interaction

“…There are other analytical and biophysical tools which can provide detailed information on the binding affinity of the biomolecules, such as Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) and biosensors (also FRET-based biosensors) [ 99 , 100 , 101 ], and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) [ 102 , 103 , 104 ], however, this is not in the scope of this review. The choice of the experimental strategy is usually dictated by the proteins under investigation.…”

Nano- and biosensors for the detection of SARS-CoV-2: challenges and opportunities

“…Some important diagnostic methods for detection of SARS-CoV-2 are summarized in Figure 2. [11][12][13] Currently, COVID-19 detection is mainly based on the combination of some techniques which include RT-PCR, chest X-ray, CT scans, and identification of some main biomarkers in the blood; the detection of the level of biomarkers, including procalcitonin (low level), C-reactive protein (elevated level), lymphocyte counts (low level), and interleukins 6 and 10 (high concentrations)…”