Harnessing nanotechnology to create new diagnostics and treatments for infectious disease

Abstract

Infectious microorganisms represent the causes of many of the most common and dangerous diseases in our modern society. Two major problems exist when tackling the problem of infections: detection and treatment. Here we utilize two distinct nanotechnology platforms to combat these problems. First, we demonstrate a novel detection method for identifying Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA using rolling circle amplification (RCA) of the pathogenic DNA. Second, we design a system for the development of antiviral drug combinations using feedback system control to rapidly determine effective antiviral drug combinations. Using Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-1) as a model we show the effectiveness of this approach. Taken together, we have begun to develop a platform for better handling of infectious disease in the future using novel nanotechnology and nanomedicine approaches.