JRC foresight expert exercise: what are the most promising current and emerging technologies for being up to the task when the next airborne disease like COVID-19 hits?
In a JRC-HERA study published today, well-established filtration and ventilation topped the list of the highest-impact current technologies for capturing and cleansing germs that spread through the air indoors. UV radiation and nucleic acid amplification came next in the impact ranking.
The foresight study also pinpointed other promising technologies, which require more development or are expected to appear in the future. From these, the impact of plasma-based inactivation, aerosol samplers, biosensors, and direct identification through physico-chemical properties came out on top.
Filtration/ventilation, for example, although is time-tested and efficient, has the drawback of using high amounts of electricity. UV radiation can sterilise objects and surfaces, but has limitations in terms of deployment since, depending on the wavelength, it can damage human skin and eyes.
Similarly, plasma discharges – for example when using ozone – can damage cell membranes, inactivating pathogens this way. Yet these are rather expensive to generate and might irritate the respiratory tract and the lungs.
Another technology, aerosol samplers, both the cyclonic/impactor and the condensation type, are efficient at collecting microorganisms and viral particles. Yet, similarly to some alternative detection technologies, they cannot identify what exactly the particles are, so they must be coupled with other technologies.
One such detection technology, biosensors, widely known and used in lateral flow antigen tests (also known as rapid antigen tests), are affordable and require little skill for use. However, their detection level usually lags behind polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and they can only be used with condensation-type aerosol samplers.
PCR tests rely on nucleic acid amplification, which is highly efficient in detecting pathogens with known genomic sequences, even if they have lost structural integrity. Unfortunately, it is expensive and time-consuming, so it might not be the most suitable solution in cash-strapped and urgent circumstances.
On the more sophisticated end, spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques can spot pathogens by looking at their physico-chemical properties, but require enhanced Artificial Intelligence for automated deployment and becoming truly disruptive.
https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/jrc-news-and-updates/jrc-explains-technologies-fighting-airborne-germs-pcr-sequencing-and-rest-2024-04-16_en
