Integrating Fluorogenic DNAzymes with Photonic Crystals for Bacterial Detection on a Microfluidic Biochip.
Revolutionize bacterial detection with a cutting-edge biochip that harnesses fluorogenic DNAzymes and photonic crystals, enabling rapid, sensitive, and specific identification of E. coli in just 55 minutes - a game-changer for point-of-care diagnostics.
This research paper presents a novel approach to bacterial detection using a photonic-crystal-assisted microfluidic biochip (PC-ΞΌchip). The biochip integrates fluorogenic DNAzymes (FDz) for rapid bacterial recognition, magnetic bead enrichment, and photonic crystal (PC) signal amplification. When FDz detects E. coli, it releases fluorescent single-stranded DNAs (ssDNAs) that flow onto the PC surface, resulting in enhanced signal output. This system demonstrated a detection limit of 100 cfu mL-1 and 100% specificity and sensitivity when tested on 20 patient urine samples, highlighting its potential for real-world diagnostic applications. The key advantages of this approach are its speed, sensitivity, and specificity, which address the limitations of conventional bacterial detection methods and pave the way for improved point-of-care diagnostics.