AI-nanopore platform can detect SARS-CoV-2 variants with high accuracy

A rapid, accurate way of testing for COVID-19 infection can be a giant step in overcoming the virus’ hold over our society. Now, in an article published in Lab on a Chip, Japanese researchers have developed a promising solution: a novel platform that couples nanopore technology with artificial intelligence.

What’s a nanopore? A nanopore is a miniscule hole in a skinny substrate, often a silicon wafer. A nanopore might range from several nanometers to several hundred nanometers in diameter -; a scale sufficiently small to work with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Our technology involves taking a look at changes within the electrical current as different materials are passed through tiny nanopores. With the usage of artificial intelligence, we will understand the structure, volume, and surface charge of various materials, including viruses.”

Kaoru Murakami, study’s lead creator

SARS-CoV-2 is typical of many other RNA viruses in that it consistently mutates, thereby changing the properties of the virus – including infection rates and symptoms. One infamous mutation of the virus, the Omicron variant, was first identified in November 2021 and is thought for its ability to spread quickly. One in every of the best challenges for COVID-19 testing up to now has been accurately determining the presence or absence of newly mutated variants in a sample.

Thus, the researchers first sought to reveal that their platform could detect differences between six different variants of SARS-CoV-2. Next, they investigated whether their platform could discover SARS-CoV-2 strains in 241 saliva samples, collected from 132 people infected with SARS-CoV-2 and 109 uninfected people. Not only was the platform able to tell apart between SARS-CoV-2 variants, but it surely was also capable of determine the presence of the Omicron variant 100% of the time.

The researchers hypothesize that their AI-driven platform is detecting differences within the so-called spike proteins (also called S-proteins) that coat the surface of coronaviruses. These proteins, which are inclined to mutate in a short time, bind to host cell receptors and play an important role in penetrating host cells.

Until now, the gold standard for SARS-CoV-2 detection has been a technique called RT-PCR (the reverse transcription-polymerase chain response test). “Like RT-PCR, our AI-nanopore platform can detect coronavirus with high sensitivity and specificity. Nonetheless, a serious advantage of our nanopore system is that it is way cheaper and has the potential to measure a bigger variety of samples in a given time frame,” explains Masaaki Murakami, senior creator.

The advantages of this method usually are not specific to SARS-CoV-2; other RNA viruses also are inclined to have high mutation rates, and so this platform might be used to detect viruses reminiscent of influenza. The brand new platform could even be rapidly adapted to check for the following newly emerged infectious disease.