How very tiny technologies are helping tackle the global pandemic
Diagnosis
If you’re suspected of having COVID, swabs from your throat or nose will be taken and tested by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). This method checks if genetic material from the coronavirus is present in the sample.
Despite being highly accurate, the test can takeup to three daysto produce results, requires high-tech equipment onlyaccessible in a lab, and can only tell if you have an active infection when the test is taken. But antibody tests, which check for the presence ofcoronavirus antibodiesin your blood, can produce results immediately, wherever you’re tested.
Antibodiesare formed when your body fights back against a virus. They are tiny proteins that search for and destroy invaders by hunting for the chemical markers of germs, called antigens. This means antibody tests can not only tell if you have coronavirus but if you have previously had it.
[Read:Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine is starting to look like a winner]
Antibody tests usenanoparticles of materials such as gold to capture any antibodies from a blood sample. These then slowly travel along with a small piece of paper and stick to an antigen test line that only the coronavirus antibody will bond to. This makes the line visible and indicates that antibodies are present in the sample. These tests are more than95% accurateand can give resultswithin 15 minutes.
Vaccines and treatment
A major turning point in the battle against coronavirus will be the development of asuccessful vaccine. Vaccines often contain an inactive form of a virus that acts as an antigen to train your immune system and enable it to develop antibodies. That way, when it meets the real virus, your immune system is ready and able to resist infection.
But there aresome limitationsin that typical vaccine material can prematurely break down in the bloodstream and does not always reach the target location, reducing the efficiency of a vaccine. One solution is to enclose the vaccine material inside a nanoshell by a process calledencapsulation.
These shells are made from fats called lipids and can be as thin as5nm in diameter, which is 50,000 times thinner than an eggshell. The nanoshells protect the inner vaccine from breaking down and can alsobe decoratedwith molecules that target specific cells to make them more effective at delivering their cargo.
This can improve the immuneresponse of elderly peopleto the vaccine. And critically, people typically need lower doses of these encapsulated vaccines to develop immunity, meaning you can more quickly produce enough to vaccinate anentire population.
Encapsulation can also improve viral treatments. A major contribution to the deaths of virus patients in intensive care is “acute respiratory distress syndrome,” which occurs when the immune system produces anexcessive response. Encapsulated vaccines can target specific areas of the body to deliver immunosuppressive drugs directly to targeted organs and helping regulate our immune system response.
Transmission reduction
It’s hard to exaggerate the importance of wearing face masks and washing your hands to reducing the spread of COVID-19. But typical face coverings can have trouble stopping the most penetrating particles of respiratory droplets, and many can only be used once.
New fabrics made from nanofibres 100nm thick and coated in titanium oxide can catch droplets smaller than 1,000nm and so they can be destroyed byultraviolet (UV) radiationfrom sunlight.Masks, gloves, and other personal protective equipment (PPE) made from such fabricscan also bewashed and reused, and are more breathable.
Another important nanomaterial isgraphene, which is formed from a single honeycomb layer of carbon atoms and is200 times strongerthan steel but lighter than paper. Fabrics laced with graphene can capture viruses andblock themfrom passing through. PPE containing graphene could be morepuncture, flame, UV, and microbe-resistantwhile also being lightweight.
Graphene isn’t reserved for fabrics either. Nanoparticles could be placed on surfacesin public placesthat might be particularly likely to facilitate the transmission of the virus.
These technologies are just some of the ways nanoscience is contributing to the battle against COVID-19. While there is no one answer to a global pandemic, these tiny technologies certainly have the potential to be an important part of the solution.
This article is republished fromThe ConversationbyJosh Davies, PhD Candidate in Chemistry,Cardiff Universityunder a Creative Commons license. Read theoriginal article.
Story byThe Conversation
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