Challenges in the Detection of Emerging Novel Pathogens and Evolving Known Pathogens

Abstract

The emergence of novel pathogens that quickly escalate into pandemics due to air travel has been increasing in the past few decades, a relatively recent example being COVID-19. In addition to novel infectious agents, well-established human and animal pathogens are also evolving adaptation mechanisms that include the capacity to resist antimicrobial agents. In antimicrobial resistant infections, correct distinction of the resistant strain would allow the relevant effective therapeutic regimen to be administered, while delay or misidentification of the strain could lead to complications such as sepsis and death. The rapid detection of infected individuals, including those that are asymptomatic, would allow for more effective infection control strategies. The detection of novel pathogens and the ability to distinguish new divergent strains have, for the most part, depended on methods that are rooted in the field of molecular biology and immunology. Such methods are primarily laboratory based and, despite their accuracy, may require lengthy sample preparation times not suitable for field or on-site use. There is a need to complement these methods with mobile methods suitable for field detection that are programmable to different pathogens, reproducible, cost effective yet with minimal or negligible compromise towards accuracy. Such methods will require a molecular level understanding of the components of a pathogen that are amenable for detection with a sensor device. This chapter will discuss how such structures and/or molecules function as part of the pathogen and can be rapidly detected by field-effect transistor (FET) sensors.