title: Deploying aptameric sensing technology for rapid pandemic monitoring.
abstract: The genome of virulent strains may possess the ability to mutate by means of antigenic shift and/or antigenic drift as well as being resistant to antibiotics with time. The outbreak and spread of these virulent diseases including avian influenza (H1N1), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-Corona virus), cholera (Vibrio cholera), tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), Ebola hemorrhagic fever (Ebola Virus) and AIDS (HIV-1) necessitate urgent attention to develop diagnostic protocols and assays for rapid detection and screening. Rapid and accurate detection of first cases with certainty will contribute significantly in preventing disease transmission and escalation to pandemic levels. As a result, there is a need to develop technologies that can meet the heavy demand of an all-embedded, inexpensive, specific and fast biosensing for the detection and screening of pathogens in active or latent forms to offer quick diagnosis and early treatments in order to avoid disease aggravation and unnecessary late treatment costs. Nucleic acid aptamers are short, single-stranded RNA or DNA sequences that can selectively bind to specific cellular and biomolecular targets. Aptamers, as new-age bioaffinity probes, have the necessary biophysical characteristics for improved pathogen detection. This article seeks to review global pandemic situations in relation to advances in pathogen detection systems. It particularly discusses aptameric biosensing and establishes application opportunities for effective pandemic monitoring. Insights into the application of continuous polymeric supports as the synthetic base for aptamer coupling to provide the needed convective mass transport for rapid screening is also presented.
authors.affiliation: a Curtin Sarawak Research Institute, Curtin University , Sarawak 98009 , Malaysia.|b Department of Chemical Engineering , Curtin University , Sarawak 98009 , Malaysia.
authors.forename: Caleb
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Acquah
authors.affiliation: b Department of Chemical Engineering , Curtin University , Sarawak 98009 , Malaysia.
authors.forename: Michael K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Danquah
authors.affiliation: c Centre for Chemistry and Biotechnology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences Deakin University , Geelong-Waurn Ponds , Australia.
authors.forename: Dominic
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Agyei
authors.affiliation: d Faculty of Engineering and Science , Curtin University , Sarawak 98009 , Malaysia.
authors.forename: Charles K S
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Moy
authors.affiliation: a Curtin Sarawak Research Institute, Curtin University , Sarawak 98009 , Malaysia.|e Faculty of Health Sciences , Curtin University , Perth 6102 , Australia , and.
authors.forename: Amandeep
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sidhu
authors.affiliation: f Biotechnology Research Institute, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu , Sabah, 88400 , Malaysia.
authors.forename: Clarence M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Ongkudon
mesh_terms: D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics; D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D006801:Humans; D058873:Pandemics; D014780:Viruses / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide
keywords: Aptamers; bioscreening; cell culture; molecular diagnostics; pandemics