Gold nanoparticles in virus detection: Recent advances and potential considerations for SARS-CoV-2 testing development

Abstract

Viruses are infectious agents that pose significant threats to plants, animals, and humans. The current coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has spread globally and resulted in over 2 million deaths and immeasurable financial losses. Rapid and sensitive virus diagnostics become crucially important in controlling the spread of a pandemic before effective treatment and vaccines are available. Gold nanoparticle (AuNP)-based testing holds great potential for this urgent unmet biomedical need. In this review, we describe the most recent advances in AuNP-based viral detection applications. In addition, we discuss considerations for the design of AuNP-based SARS-CoV-2 testings. Finally, we highlight and propose important parameters to consider for the future development of effective AuNP-based testings that would be critical for not only this COVID-19 pandemic, but also potential future outbreaks. This article is categorized under: Diagnostic Tools > Biosensing Diagnostic Tools > In Vitro Nanoparticle-Based Sensing.