Development of a Hand-held, DNA Aptamer-based Surface Enhanced Resonance Raman Scattering (SERS) Biosensor for Direct Identification and Quantitation of Biomarkers and Pathogens in Complex Biological Samples at Point-of-Care

Jonathan Blackburn of the University of Cape Town in South Africa will use tuberculosis as a model disease to develop a low-cost, hand-held biosensor that combines the selectivity of antigen-specific DNA aptamers with the exceptional specificity of Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy in order to reliably quantify pathogen biomarkers present in patient specimens at the point-of-care.