microPhage · Automated microfluidic phage display through non-fouling droplet-based technologies

Automated microfluidic phage display through non-fouling droplet-based technologies

Biosensors and in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) have revolutionized modern medicine by carving a path from primarily symptom-led diagnosis towards empirical and measurable biomarker-led diagnosis. The impact of these technologies is hard to overstate, and they have become an integral part of modern medical treatment pipelines, from initial diagnosis and prognosis through to treatment planning and monitoring. Biosensors and IVDs are ubiquitous within virtually every medical field, including infectious diseases, cardiology, oncology, and endocrinology. However, despite the ubiquity of these technologies, many challenges still remain. Biomedical research is continuously discovering novel and important biomarkers for disease, many of which could enable medical professionals to diagnose disease more accurately, and at an earlier stage. Unfortunately, newly discovered biomarkers are frequently present in the body in increasingly smaller concentrations, and existing technologies are inadequately equipped to detect them. Another major problem is the ever-present threat of disease mutations that can render existing technology useless; this is particularly problematic for infectious diseases. Finally, as diagnostic tests have become more routine, contemporary gold-standard technologies have begun to struggle with the demand. Given the importance of diagnostics, it is imperative that the global research community continues to address these issues through technological innovation. Key to this is the exploration and development of entirely new biosensing modalities that combine novel biochemical processes with powerful engineering solutions. The primary objective of this project is to explore the interface of synthetic biology and microfluidics to generate new methods for detecting disease. I will develop a novel biosensing platform based on in vitro replication of cellular processes, and then combine this with the knowledge of the host lab to develop a state-of-the-art droplet microfluidic-based diagnostic platform. The platform will be assessed for analytical performance, and ultimately applied to the detection of several biomarkers for infectious diseases such as HIV. In addition to the primary objective, I anticipate that the results of this project will be of significant value to the global research community, and will inform the development of other projects at the interface of synthetic biology and microfluidics.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз