It is possible that soon, in order to find out whether we are being attacked by flu virus, or just minor cold, we will only have to do a 5-10 minute test?
Dawid Nidzworski from the UG-GUMed Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology is close to developing a biosensor for this purpose. For its development the researcher received a grant under the "Ventures" programme of the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP).
According to Dawid Nidzworski, quick and reliable diagnosis of patients in which the biosensor detects the presence of influenza virus may prevent unnecessary use of antibiotics, which should not be used in the treatment of influenza. This would also benefit the National Health Fund.
"According to my financial simulations, if each health centre would be equipped with such biosensor, the National Health Fund could save PLN 50 million per year in costs of unnecessarily prescribed antibiotics, even if they would refund the costs of biosensors in health centres - Nidzworski told PAP.
Would the biosensor will be able to detect all mutations of influenza viruses, which change even few times in one season? The researcher argues that it would.
"The virus mainly changes the surface glycoproteins - hemagglutinin and neuraminidase - which account for the diversity of the virus, such as a very popular H1N1 and H5N1. However, the virus is also composed of structural proteins, which are genetically more stable" - explained the scientist.
He said that regardless of the type of virus: H1, H5 or H16, some of its components remain constant. "I chose one of them to develop the biosensor. Naturally, mutations may occur, they are, however, not significant enough to affect the properties of this component. That is why sensor I developed will be able to detect any type of the flu virus" - assured Nidzworski.
While most important will be detecting viruses in the swab from the human throat, the idea of viral diagnosis is to detect the presence of the virus in any environmental material.
"It is vital to detect the virus in poultry and in aquatic birds, which is a reservoir of virus in the environment. Important is also the possibility of detecting viruses in animal feed, because it is possible to transfer the virus to the hen house with food. I want to develop a sensor capable of detecting the virus in such products" - Nidzworski told PAP.
He described that the biosensor would consist of two parts. "One is the main electronic device with a display or a lamp. It lights up green if the patient is not a flu virus carrier, or red when the patient has the virus. Second part of the biosensor is the component replaced after the examination of each patient" - explained the researcher.
"Swab taken from the throat will be placed in a special solution, to which inserted will be an electrode connected to ingredients detecting the virus. Changes on the electrode or the lack thereof will be detected and measured by an electronic device and indicated by the red or green light. The whole process of virus identification should take about 5 - 10 minutes"- described the researcher.
The research author assumes that the biosensors, apart from health centre, will be useful in diagnostic laboratories. They could also benefit veterinarians. "I hope that cost of the entire biosensor does not exceed few thousand PLN. The cost of one tip should not exceed 10 PLN" – said Nidzworski.
He explained that although there are reports on development of biosensors in the world, the field is still fairly new. New disadvantages of such devices continue to be revealed, it turns out that the sensitivity is too small and they do not detect all viruses.
"The world market does not yet have a miniature biosensor that could be used in clinics. There are test strips - similar to pregnancy tests - but unfortunately they have poor analytical sensitivity. I would like achieve the simplicity of test strips combined with much higher sensitivity" - assured Nidzworski .
He said that the research project - funded from an FNP grant - will end by August 2013. This, however, will only be the first part of the work.
"The technology is so new that today it is difficult to say whether in three years I will develop a biosensor, which with very high sensitivity will detect all influenza viruses. The aim of the project is to test this possibility, although the scientific reports and the methodology I am using suggest that it should be possible"- he explained.
According to the researcher, the later device miniaturization is a matter of funds. If there are businesses or institutions interested in the implementation of the device, the biosensor could be marketed around 2015.
PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland, Ewelina Krajczyńska
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