Chennai: Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, have developed methods to detect and prevent the novel coronavirus using bio-interface interactions between the virus and the surface spike protein.
The team of researchers said the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is composed of inner nucleic acid which is covered with surface spike glycoprotein and the engineered surfaces can be potentially applied for the detection as well as prevention of Covid-19.
Lalit M Pandey, associate professor, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, said, “So far we are using antibody-based assays and RT-PCR based methods for testing during pandemic. However, longer assay time, cost, complex procedures and false positive or negative results are a few bottlenecks of these methods.”
“The bio-interface interactions between virus surface spike protein and the surface can be explored for the rapid detection of coronavirus,” he added.