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Researcher Seeks to Build a Coronavirus Alarm

Researcher Seeks to Build a Coronavirus Alarm

(Bloomberg) -- Jing Wang spent the last few years developing a sensor that measures airborne germs. So when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, he figured he could tweak it to detect the new coronavirus.

The sensor could be useful in crowded areas like hospitals, train stations or classrooms, said Wang, a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology’s Institute of Environmental Engineering in Zurich. Still under development, the device is sensitive enough to tell the difference between the new pathogen and the related SARS virus that swept through the world in 2003.

A Covid alarm could prove helpful while researchers work to make a vaccine. The coronavirus has killed more than 184,000 people worldwide and led millions to shutter themselves at home to slow its spread.

Researcher Seeks to Build a Coronavirus Alarm

“To fight the virus, or any epidemic, it’s very important to have early warnings,” Wang said. “The sensor gives you the chance to act immediately.”

The device is based on tiny gold structures holding synthetic molecules that match the coronavirus’s unique genetic material. When airborne material from Sars-CoV-2 attaches to its synthetic match, the sensor verifies its identification before sending an alert signal.

Using funding from the institute, Wang’s team is still manually feeding samples into the sensor, entering the signal into a computer and analyzing it. Before it can be deployed in the field, it needs systems to draw in air and concentrate viral particles. Help from technology and manufacturing companies could speed up that process, as well as data collection and automation, Wang said.

While the finished product is still a year from field use, researchers have estimated that finding a vaccine will take from six to 18 months. It could also be important to have if the current outbreak is repeated in subsequent waves, Wang said.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.