黑料福利网

In the fight against infectious diseases such as malaria, COVID, and sexually transmitted infections, testing plays a crucial role. For the right treatment, it is important to know which disease a patient is infected with. Until now, doctors often had to choose between fast but inaccurate tests, or precise but time-consuming methods.

Our new test uses biosensors based on light-emitting proteins to detect infectious diseases both quickly and accurately, says , PhD candidate in protein engineering. Testing and receiving results currently takes too long, leaving patients in uncertainty about whether or not they are infected. This test can also reduce healthcare costs.

Scientists join forces with deep-sea shrimp

Building on earlier work by and at 黑料福利网, who developed the LUNAS biosensor in 2023, there are several ways to test patients for infectious diseases. PCR, which identifies viruses or bacteria by their DNA or RNA, is the gold standard. The downside is that it requires expensive labs and trained specialists. That is not necessary when testing for virus-specific proteins in the body, as with COVID rapid tests, but that method is less reliable.

This is where the bioluminescent shrimp comes in. Oplophorus gracilirostris lives in the deep sea and shoots clouds of blue light as a diversionary tactic when threatened. These light-emitting proteins, called luciferases, are now being copied and modified by scientists in the lab to create biosensors.

Our biosensors consist of a part that can bind to DNA and a part that is activated and produces light when the biosensor binds to DNA, says De Stigter. The light-producing part comes from the deep-sea shrimp and is naturally bright blue.

Glow-in-the-dark test for STIs

De Stigter developed a glow-in-the-dark test for two similar STIs. Gonorrhea and chlamydia often cause the same symptoms, but you need to know which one it is in order to provide the right treatment. We developed a test that can detect both infections: blue light means chlamydia, green light means gonorrhea.

The color changes can be read with a standard digital camera, like the one in your smartphone. The speed and simple readout method means these tests can also be performed outside a professional lab.

I find it fascinating how we, as biomedical engineers, can reprogram biological systems like proteins and give them new functions, says De Stigter. I combine the design of entirely new proteins with the creation of practical applications such as accessible tests for infectious diseases.

Good diagnostics should be accessible to everyone, everywhere.

Yosta de Stigter

The importance of fast and affordable testing

At the end of 2024, the after the number of people getting tested for sexually transmitted infections dropped significantly, possibly due to rising costs. A chlamydia test costs around forty euros. Health centers and community organizations are concerned about cuts to healthcare funding and the consequences for a range of infectious diseases, since fewer tests lead to more infections and more complications.

Fast and affordable tests for infectious diseases are even more urgently needed in other parts of the world. An estimated 600,000 people die from malaria each year, with more than 95% of those deaths occurring in sub-Saharan Africa.

I think biomedical engineers have a very important role to play in developments in healthcare, says De Stigter, because they work at the intersection of engineering and the biomedical sciences. That makes us the bridge between hospitals and technology, because we speak both languages. That role is absolutely essential, especially as society continues its digital transformation.

Global impact

One embodiment of that bridge function between hospitals and technology is the company , founded by 黑料福利网 researchers and clinical microbiologists as a spin-off of the bioluminescence research.

The social enterprise aims to make the technology available in countries where the need is greatest and ultimately wants to establish local production capacity to make the tests affordable and accessible.

De Stigter: It can make testing much more accessible to everyone, everywhere. Especially in countries where diagnostic infrastructure is lacking, you see that infectious diseases still have a major impact on public health. We hope that by developing cheap and simple tests, many of these diseases can be diagnosed and treated early, or even eliminated.