New, fast, and precise method of COVID-19 detection in nasopharyngeal and tracheal aspirate samples combining optical spectroscopy and machine learning.

Fast, precise, and low-cost diagnostic testing to identify persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus is pivotal to control the global pandemic of COVID-19 that began in late 2019. The gold standard method of diagnostic recommended is the RT-qPCR test. However, this method is not universally available, and is time-consuming and requires specialized personnel, as well as sophisticated laboratories.

Adhesion forces measured between a calcium blocker drug and its receptor in living cells using atomic force microscope.

The adhesion force between the tip of an atomic force microscope cantilever derivatized with nimodipine (a calcium blocker, from the dihydropyridine class, currently used in clinical medicine for hypertension) and living cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (unicellular eukaryotes which portray ultrastructural features characteristic of higher eukaryotic cells) was measured. This methodology allowed us to locate (and visualize) pores on the cell surface which may be responsible for calcium transportation in the living cells. The interaction of the cantilever derivatized with the calcium blocker and a pore, which can be a calcium channel, is more intense than a non-derivatized cantilever and the pore.