Quicker virus detection test

Clemson scientist Feng Ding is working to develop a quick detection test for COVID-19 with funding from a one-year National Science Foundation RAPID grant.

Ding said that current COVID-19 tests require samples to be sent to a lab with a potential waiting period of days before patients get back their results. Ding is hoping this $190,065 grant and his work with Pengyu Chen, a Clemson alumnus and now an assistant professor at Auburn University in Alabama, will change the turnaround rate for COVID-19 testing.

“The idea with this test is to detect traces of the virus protein with highly sensitive sensors enabled by nanotechnology,” said Ding, an associate professor in the College of Science’s department of physics and astronomy. “And hopefully we could do that at the site of care by quickly analyzing the patient sample in as few as 15 minutes.”

Ding and Chen plan to do this by developing a new nanomaterial-based sensor with the capability to detect virus proteins in real time. This project builds on prior research of riboswitches commonly used by single-cell organisms for gene regulation. When sensing metabolites or small molecules, a riboswitch can change its three-dimensional shape and subsequently turn on the “switch” of enzyme expression for unitizing the nutrient.