Amazing stuff! This could be a breakthrough!
"... After testing multiple viruses, the research team found that each of them vibrated in their own unique ways, distinct from one another and from all the other molecules they tested. That meant that BioSonics could be used as a sensor of sorts, enabling devices that could, for example, scan a room, detect viruses in the air and identify them.
They also note that the technology could reveal individual virus activity, opening the door to better understanding them. It could be used, for example, to watch as individual viruses assemble themselves, a phenomenon that is still not well understood. ..."
From the significance and abstract:
"Significance
The natural vibrations of microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi, encode information on their mechanical properties, morphology, and three-dimensional structure.
An all-optical method is demonstrated to detect and dynamically track the natural vibrational frequencies of a microorganism across the megahertz to terahertz spectral range. We uncover long-lived coherent oscillations in a single virus at room temperature that persist for many nanoseconds. These coherent signals give rise to an acoustic spectrum that is highly sensitive to the virus morphology and interactions between its glycoproteins and the environment. The methodology promises to shed light on viral dynamics without labeling and could serve as a means for viral fingerprinting.
Abstract
The natural vibrational frequencies of biological particles such as viruses and bacteria encode critical information about their mechanical and biological states as they interact with their local environment and undergo structural evolution. However, detecting and tracking these vibrations within a biological context at the single particle level has remained elusive.
In this study, we track the vibrational motions of single, unlabeled virus particles under ambient conditions using ultrafast spectroscopy. The ultrasonic spectrum of an 80 to 100 nm lentiviral pseudovirus reveals vibrational modes in the 19 to 21 GHz range sensitive to virus morphology and 2 to 10 GHz modes with nanosecond dephasing times reflecting viral envelope protein interactions. By tracking virus trajectories over minutes, we observe acoustic mode coupling mediated by the local environment. Single particle tracking allows the capture of viral disassembly through correlated mode softening and dephasing. The sensitivity, high resolution, and speed of this approach promise deeper insights into biological dynamics and early-stage diagnostics at the single microorganism level."
Nanoscopic acoustic vibrational dynamics of a single virus captured by ultrafast spectroscopy (open access)
Fig. 1 Principle of BioSonic spectroscopy.
(A) Natural frequencies of biological systems at different length scales. Simplified microscope setup showing illumination and detection geometry. The ASOPS sequence uses a fixed frequency offset to generate a rapid, linear scanning of the time delays up to the laser pulse period.
(B, i) Motion of a nanoparticle (NP) on a substrate.
(B, ii) Time-domain response showing simultaneous excitation of breathing (br), angular, and axial (ax) modes in the NP.
(B, iii) Corresponding spectrum by Fourier transformation of the time-domain signal.
(B, iv) Different types of vibrational modes that the NP may experience.
(C) Representative time response and spectra of a single ~100 nm gold particle (AuNP), Top, and a single lentivirus particle, Bottom. The Inset shows the VSV-G glycoprotein and membrane envelope (blue) and capsid containing the green fluorescence protein (GFP) gene and protein (maroon).
Fig. 3 Single-particle trajectories provide insight into the virus–substrate interactions.
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