Presented by
Leona Gilbert
Nominated by
University of Jyväskylä
Borrelia can change its shape when it encounters unfriendly environments. As it changes its shape, it also changes the protein and sugar molecules on its surface, thus fooling the patient’s immune system. Implementation of morphological variants of Borrelia for diagnostic purposes is an absolute novelty to Tickplex. The kit also enables clinicians to diagnose individuals for secondary, co-infections and autoimmune conditions because polymicrobial conditions in individual’s demand for a unique treatment protocol. We have also optimized reduction of aqueous metals to nanoparticles on any carbon allotrope to form a nanoparticle composite. This composite allows detection across different platforms such as absorbance, fluorescence, and impedance. Carbon allotropes could be attached to any antibody type allowing it to be applied for detection across different infectious diseases like Tick-borne diseases. Current diagnostic tools offer diagnosis for only Borrelia burgdorferi. As a consequence, sensitivity for the tests on average is limited to 46%. It enables clinicians to diagnose individuals for different Borrelia strains and their morphological variants at 95.4% sensitivity. Multiplex and multifunctional features of the kit will enable clinicians to diagnose individuals for early, persistent, late, polymicrobial, autoimmune, and immune dysfunction conditions linked to Tick-borne diseases.