CMSA Interdisciplinary Science Seminar: Designer DNA-based nanoconstructs in viral detection and blocking

CMSA EVENTS

Speaker:

Weishan Huang - Louisiana State University and Cornell University

SARS-CoV-2 etiological pathogen of COVID-19 has resulted in a pandemic. There remains an urgent need of innovative technology of developing rapid diagnosis of active infections and affordable antiviral precise medicine for therapeutics. Most viruses have repetitive surface antigen units laid out on the virions following specific patterns forming the viral capsid or envelop. To develop precise instant diagnosis of active SARS-CoV-2 infections and novel antiviral candidates against SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission we exploited the structural characteristics of viral surface proteins that can be matched at nanoscale precision by engineered DNA nanostructure platforms. Our preliminary data demonstrated that these pattern-matching DNA nanostructures can enable specific and sensitive sensing of SARS-CoV-2 viruses and have sufficient antiviral activities against SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviral and live viral infections. Our method can be transferrable to develop rapid diagnosis and precise inhibition of other enveloped viruses such as influenza and HIV. We are seeking expert advice from the mathematical and computational community to help with optimization of the DNA-based nanostructures.

Zoom: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/98248914765?pwd=Q01tRTVWTVBGT0lXek40VzdxdVVPQT09

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