Single-Molecule Electrical Detection Methods for Public Health Applications: Towards Sustainble Biosensing

In the face of escalating climate change, which significantly impacts both<br/>the global economy and public health, changes in environmental con-<br/>ditions can favor the spread of pathogens and the development of new<br/>mutants.[1] Early detection and control of pathogen spread are pivotal<br/>in enhancing health outcomes on a broader scale. Among the diverse<br/>pathways of pathogen screening, nanotechnology has made remarkable<br/>advancements in the last decade. It has also extended its applications<br/>to biomolecules, giving rise to BioMolecular Electronics.[2] Notably, the<br/>Scanning Tunneling Microscopic (STM)-assisted break junction method<br/>(STM-BJ)[3] has led to biophysical studies of individual molecules at the<br/>single-molecule level. It stands out as a promising approach for single-<br/>molecule biomolecular detection. This concept emerges as a compelling<br/>solution for the real-time identification of individual biological molecules.<br/>Our research leverages the potential of the STM-BJ method to showcase<br/>the electrical detection of RNA cancer biomarkers, distinguishing KRAS<br/>mutants G12V and G12C from the wild type.[4] Furthermore, our inves-<br/>tigation highlights the remarkable sensitivity and specificity of this tech-<br/>nique in identifying RNA coronavirus biomarkers, even at the sub-variant<br/>level.[5] This tool can also be applied for the electrical measurement of<br/>biomolecular interactions at the single-molecule level.[6] Beyond these pi-<br/>oneering advancements, our focus extends now to the sustainability and<br/>life cycle analysis of biosensors. Our future research will focus on min-<br/>imizing the environmental impact of biosensors by utilizing sustainable<br/>materials and processes.[7]<br/><br/>References:<br/>[1] Celia McMichael. Climate change-related migration and infectious disease.<br/>Virulence, 2015<br/>[2] Keshani G Gunasinghe Pattiya Arachchillage, Subrata Chandra, Angela<br/>Piso, Tiba Qattan, and Juan M Artes Vivancos. Rna biomolecular electron-<br/>ics: towards new tools for biophysics and biomedicine. Journal of Materials<br/>Chemistry B, 2021<br/>[3] Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer. Scanning tunneling microscopy. Surface<br/>science, 1983<br/>[4] Keshani G Gunasinghe Pattiya Arachchillage, Subrata Chandra, Ajoke<br/>Williams, Patrick Piscitelli, Jennifer Pham, Aderlyn Castillo, Lily Florence,<br/>Srijith Rangan, and Juan M Artes Vivancos. Electrical detection of rna can-<br/>cer biomarkers at the single-molecule level. Scientific Reports,<br/>2023<br/>[5] Keshani G Gunasinghe Pattiya Arachchillage, Subrata Chandra, Ajoke<br/>Williams, Srijith Rangan, Patrick Piscitelli, Lily Florence, Sonakshi Ghosal<br/>Gupta, and Juan Artes Vivancos. A single-molecule rna electrical biosensor<br/>for covid-19. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2023<br/>[6] Subrata Chandra, Farkhad Maksudov, Evgenii Kliuchnikov, Keshani<br/>GG Pattiya Arachchillage, Patrick Piscitelli, Kenneth Marx, Valeri<br/>Barsegov, Juan Manuel Artes Vivancos. Charge transport in indi-<br/>vidual short single-stranded rna molecules, 2023<br/>[7] Ajoke Williams, Jose Mauricio Regalado Aguilar, Keshani G. Gunas-<br/>inghe Pattiya Arachchillage, Srijith Rangan, Sonakshi Ghosal Gupta, Diego<br/>Goodrich, Emile Blestel, and Juan Artes Vivancos. Biosensors for public<br/>health and environmental monitoring: The case for sustainable biosensing, 2023. In Revision