Major infectious diseases like COVID-19 can go undetected until they spread. It is not easy to spot the problem in a community because, detection of infectious diseases which is the foundation for surveillance and contact tracing can take hours, if not days.
Scientists are currently developing a portable device that can be configured to screen thousands of pathogens in few minutes, not hours. The device will be incorporated with current biotechnology advances, microfluidics, and imaging analysis. The aim to enhance treatment speed and improve the public standard of care and equip the military with new bio surveillance technology.
Rachel Fezzie, a biochemist and molecular biologist at Draper, says infectious disease detection needs to be faster, lower in cost, and field-ready.
She said: “The development of a rapid, low-cost diagnostic device that is capable of detecting 1,000 biomarkers in one processing cycle is an important step forward in improving infectious disease detection. A device with the ability to detect pathogens sooner and in a greater variety would improve public health, add protections for military units and provide critical information to medical decision-makers within minutes.”
Fezzie and her colleagues at Draper are developing such technology as part of a team the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has recently selected. Led by MRIGlobal, the team is developing a massively multiplexed device (MMD) for DARPA’s “Detect It with Gene Editing Technologies” (DIGET) program. DARPA stated that the aim is to incorporate gene editors into detectors for distributed health bio-surveillance and rapid, point-of-need diagnostics for endemic, emerging, and engineered pathogenic threats.
The foundation for the MMD is DETECTR, a CRISPR-based detection platform developed by Mammoth Biosciences which is a member of the MRIGlobal team. The platform is a rapid diagnosis technology that makes use of gene editing molecular tools for finding particular gene sequences within a sample.
The MMD will also use a new approach to optical detection through the development of a miniaturized, simple, lens-free system that has no moving parts, making it attractive for field deployment. Reconfiguration of the microarray will be enabled by printing array chips with new Cas/gRNA complexes, a process expected to take 24 hours or less.
Draper program manager for DIGET, John Julia stated that The MMD plans to fundamentally alter the operation concept for diagnostic detection and biosurveillance by increasing throughput, usability, and sensitivity to levels unmatched by existing technologies. A single run of the MMD will provide strain or species-level identification and information on genetically encoded characteristics like gene expression data and antimicrobial resistance to indicate the severity of disease in a person.”
The sample to answer time is projected to be 15 minutes with the MMD allowing more assay to be run in a day which will allow adequate actions to be taken sooner.
Fezzie explains “Currently, next-generation sequencing is needed to identify a broad range of pathogens which normally takes days to carry out by highly skilled lab personnel”.
Draper’s DIGET work is supported by the company’s Bioengineering, Microsystems, and Advanced Material divisions, and it is managed by its Special Programs Office.
