COVID-19: A challenge for electrochemical biosensors

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trac.2021.116192Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The role of biosensors in the field of rapid COVID-19 diagnostics is highlighted.

  • The advantages of electrochemical biosensors over standard COVID-19 diagnostic methods are discussed.

  • Current challenges for electrochemical SARS-CoV-2 detection are explained.

  • Cutting-edge approaches and perspectives in the field are provided.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 has spread since the end of 2019 and has resulted in a pandemic with unprecedented socioeconomic consequences. This situation has created enormous demand for the improvement of current diagnostic methods and the development of new diagnostic methods for fast, low-cost and user-friendly confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This critical review focuses on viral electrochemical biosensors that are promising for the development of rapid medical COVID-19 diagnostic tools. The molecular biological properties of SARS-CoV-2 as well as currently known biochemical attributes of infection necessary for biosensor development are outlined. The advantages and drawbacks of conventional diagnostic methods, such as quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), are critically discussed. Electrochemical biosensors focusing on viral nucleic acid and whole viral particle detection are highlighted and discussed in detail. Finally, future perspectives on viral electrochemical biosensor development are briefly mentioned.

Keywords

Antibody
CRISPR/Cas9
Diagnostics
Electrochemistry
Electrode

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