Credit: EPFL
Scientists at EPFL have developed on-chip “nanotweezers” that can trap and manipulate individual bacteria and virions using a minimal amount of optical power.
The technique uses light to manipulate and identify individual bacteriophages without the need for chemical labels or bioreceptors, accelerating phage-based therapies that can treat antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.
In this study, the researchers built nanotweezers embedded in an optofluidic device that integrates optical and fluidic technologies on a single chip. The chip contains silicon-based photonic crystal cavities—the nanotweezers, which are essentially tiny traps that gently nudge the phages into position using a light-generated force field. The system allowed the researchers to precisely control single bacteria and single virions and acquire information about the trapped microorganisms in real-time.
What sets this approach apart is that it can distinguish between different types of phages without using any chemical labels or surface bioreceptors, which can be time-consuming and sometimes ineffective. Instead, the nanotweezers distinguish between phages by “reading” the unique changes each particle causes in the light’s properties. The label-free method can significantly accelerate the selection of therapeutic phages, promising faster turnaround for potential phage-based treatments.
The research has implications beyond phage therapy. Being able to manipulate and study single virions in real-time opens up new avenues in microbiological research, offering scientists a tool for rapid testing and experimentation. This could lead to a better understanding of viruses and their interactions with hosts, which is valuable in the fight against infectious diseases, as well as antibiotic-resistance.