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A research team from Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and Universitat de València (UV) has developed an innovative biosensor capable of detecting airborne viruses in real-time and at low cost, without the need for chemical markers or laboratory procedures.

This device offers multiple potential applications, including detecting bacteria in hospitals, schools, and transport, thereby increasing safety. The results of this work are in the journal Talanta.

"After the experience with COVID-19, it is easy to understand that determining the presence of pathogens in the air is vital, as it allows us to take preventive measures. Beyond the coronavirus, there are other microorganisms with a high impact on health and the economy, such as hospital superbugs, avian flu and plant pathogens, which makes it essential to monitor indoor environments," says David Giménez, a researcher at the University of Valencia.

Currently, the most common method for assessing the presence of pathogens in the air is to sample the air for a period of time and collect possible pathogens in Petri dishes or collector solutions. The microorganisms are then identified or quantified in the laboratory.

"The main drawback is that this sampling and analysis process is very time-consuming, even taking days," explains Patricia Noguera, from the Universitat Politècnica de València.

In recent years, some systems that use specific receptors have been developed to detect the presence of pathogens in the air in real-time; however, the equipment is often large and expensive. In addition, they usually have another problem: the need for additional reagents. "This is precisely the main innovation of the sensor developed by our team: it does not require additional reagents," says Noguera.

Over the last two years, the electronics and chemistry experts from the UPV and UV team have developed the biosensor from scratch, designing and manufacturing the electronics and managing to detect the M13 virus without the need for additional reagents.

"We chose to work with this virus because it is easy to handle and, as a proof of concept, our results can be extrapolated to any other pathogen, in any environment," concludes Giménez.