Some of our work on the BIOFLICS project is now finally online for sharing! Our latest preprint, "Rapid Antigen Detection Tests Empowered by Cholesteric Spherical Reflectors for Expanded Capabilities", uses our cholesteric spherical reflectors (already used in, among other places, our work with Trace Crystal for secure authentication purposes), but this time as a platform for rapid antigen testing. Here, by functionalizing polymerized cholesteric liquid crystal beads with antibodies, we were able to demonstrate a prototype rapid antigen test capable to detecting antigens, using, as benchmarks, H1N1 influenza and SARS-CoV-2 antigens. This technique also shows promise in quantitative detection (a limitation of current RAT platforms) and potential for all-in-one testing systems. This was a truly interdisciplinary collaboration, involving some of our partners at the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (the group of Carole Linster) and at the Luxembourg Institute for Science and Technology (Sivashankar Krishnamoorthy).

The preprint is free to read online. Congratulations to Jan, Yansong, Chih-Chieh, and the rest of our team!

/LWH/