Korea University Joint Sensor Research Team Pioneers Early Tracking Sensor for Pandemic Virus Mutations through Nucleic Acid Amplification Method
The Joint Sensor Research Team, consisting of Professor Na Sungsoo of the Department of Mechanical Engineering under the College of Engineering, Professor Park Jinsung from Sungkyunkwan University, Professor Jang Kuewhan from Hoseo University, and Professor Yoo Junseok from Kumoh National Institute of Technology, has developed a technology capable of simultaneously diagnosing COVID-19 infection and detecting virus mutations. They are also the first in the world to design an amplification method that blocks the possibility of information errors occurring during the nucleic acid amplification process, ensuring the detection of mutant viruses without false positives.
To effectively respond to highly contagious viruses, such as the SARS-CoV-2 virus, rapid identification and isolation of infected individuals are crucial. However, the diagnostic process must address the issue of false positives, where genuinely negative patients are misdiagnosed as positive. Since the onset of pandemic viruses, the early tracking of virus mutations has been a challenge as the emergence of variants may lead to increased infectivity or the evasion of existing diagnostic techniques and immune systems.
The Joint Sensor Research Team developed a new amplification technology called Direct Insertion in Rolling Circle Amplification (DI-RCA), designed to block the possibility of the false positives that may develop during the isothermal nucleic acid amplification (RCA) processes. Using this technology, viral nucleic acids were successfully detected. Unlike conventional nucleic acid amplification methods, this detection technology replicates the target nucleic acid sequence directly and allows signal confirmation through lateral flow assay (LFA), with results varying depending on the targeted nucleic acid sequence.
The team found that the early mutations of the coronavirus (alpha, beta, gamma variants) are attributable to a mutation from Adenine to Thymine at the 23,063rd base of the 29,000-base coronavirus genome. The simultaneous detection and diagnosis technique was achieved by providing different diagnostic results depending on the presence of the Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP). The key strength of this technique lies in allowing the simultaneous diagnosis of both virus infection and virus mutation.
Professor Na Sungsoo, the corresponding author of this study from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, stated, “Our proposed technology holds great promise as a foundation that can not only track rapidly changing pandemic viruses but also be applied to a range of diseases.”
Furthermore, Professor Yoo Junseok, who led the research, said, “Building on this research, we aim to develop a multi-sensing platform capable of detecting various pandemic viruses without false positives, not only for COVID-19 but also for emerging pandemics.”
This research received support from the National Research Foundation of Korea (Leading Research Center in Engineering, Individual Basic Research Project, Regional Innovation Project through Collaboration between Local Governments and Universities) and the Ecological Imitation-based Environmental Pollution Management Technology Development Project of the Korea Environment Industry & Technology Institute.