Project: Advanced Plasmonic Biosensors analysis of nucleic acid biomarkers

Acronym	PLABAN (Reference Number: PS-2016_11)
Duration	30/03/2018 - 31/03/2021
Project Topic	Sensing of genetic material has become an ubiquitous tool in contexts that are as diverse as precision and personalized medicine, agricultural, forensic and environmental science, etc. For instance, the detection of DNA targets may enable to distinguish viral and bacterial infections and identify antibiotic resistance, which would make an outstanding impact in most clinical contexts. The original idea of this project is to delve into synergistic combinations of DNA amplification by a plasmonic polymerase chain reaction (PCR), plasmonic labeling, plasmonic manipulation of light and complementary approaches of photonic sensing, i.e. surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and plasmon-enhanced fluorescence (PEF) methods, in order to achieve ultrafast and ultrasensitive detection of DNA targets from human pathogens. Ultrafast PCR will be implemented in a photothermal cycler through the optical irradiation of plasmonic particles that will be added to the mixture of reagents for conventional PCR. Then, the same particles will be exploited for plasmonic labeling in the same pot. Meanwhile, we propose to develop an innovative SPR sensor for lab-on-a-chip applications and a PEF sensor featuring a multifunctional plasmonic substrate compatible with operation in microtiter plates, isothermal rolling cycle amplification and readout under a standard fluorescence scanner. Finally, we will test the integration of all these concepts for all-plasmonic PCR, labeling and sensing. Partners of this proposal are Tuscan and Austrian companies and research organizations exhibiting complementary backgrounds and perspectives and covering the entire pool of interdisciplinary skills that are required for its successful completion and exploitation, with the medium-long term vision to consolidate the European position in photonic sensing.
Website	visit project website
Network	PhotonicSensing
Call	Photonics based sensing

Project partner

Number	Name	Role	Country
1	Università di Firenze	Coordinator	Italy
2	Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche	Partner	Italy
3	Laboratori Victoria srl	Partner	Italy
4	Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH	Partner	Austria