Recent advances and perspectives of nucleic acid detection for coronavirus

The recent pneumonia outbreak caused by a novel coronavirus(SARS-CoV-2)is posing a great threat to global public health.Therefore,rapid and accurate identification of pathogenic viruses plays a vital role in selecting appropriate treatments,saving people's lives and preventing epidemics.It is important to establish a quick standard diagnostic test for the detection of the infectious disease(COVID-19)to prevent subsequent secondary spread.Polymerase chain reaction(PCR)is regarded as a gold standard test for the molecular diagnosis of viral and bacterial infections with high sensitivity and specificity.Isothermal nucleic acid amplification is considered to be a highly promising candidate method due to its fundamental advantage in quick procedure time at constant temperature without thermocycler opera-tion.A variety of improved or new approaches also have been developed.This review summarizes the currently available detection methods for coronavirus nucleic acid.It is anticipated that this will assist researchers and clinicians in developing better techniques for timely and effective detection of coro-navirus infection.

Research advances in the detection of miRNA

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a family of endogenous, small (approximately 22 nucleotides in length), noncoding, functional RNAs. With the development of molecular biology, the research of miRNA biological function has attracted significant interest, as abnormal miRNA expression is identified to contribute to serious human diseases such as cancers. Traditional methods for miRNA detection do not meet current demands. In particular, nanomaterial-based methods, nucleic acid amplification-based methods such as rolling circle amplification (RCA), loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), strand-displacement amplification (SDA) and some enzyme-free amplifications have been employed widely for the highly sensitive detection of miRNA. MiRNA functional research and clinical diagnostics have been accelerated by these new techniques. Herein, we summarize and discuss the recent progress in the development of miRNA detection methods and new applications. This review will provide guidelines for the development of follow-up miRNA detection methods with high sensitivity and specificity, and applicability to disease diagnosis and therapy.

Light-enhanced metal-support interaction for synergetic photo/thermal catalytic formaldehyde oxidation

The strong metal-support interaction(SMSI)plays a pivotal role in regulating electronic properties and activating surface oxygen species.In this work,we report light-irradiation-modulated SMSI for enhanced formaldehyde(HCHO)oxidation.Specifically,the SMSI between Pt nanoparticles(NPs)and Bi_(2)MoO_(6)cre-ated surface-active oxygen at Pt-Bi_(2)MoO_(6)interfaces to activate HCHO to dioxymethylene(DOM).Notably,light irradiation boosted the SMSI and catalytic activity.Moreover,photogenerated holes in Bi_(2)MoO 6 im-proved HCHO adsorption and activation,while photogenerated electrons migrated from Bi_(2)MoO_(6)to Pt NPs to promote O_(2)adsorption and activation,accelerating the oxidation of DOM to CO_(2)and H_(2)O.The light-modulated SMSI and the synergy between photocatalysis and thermocatalysis lead to enhanced cat-alytic oxidation activity,providing a practical strategy for indoor volatile organic compound(VOC)de-composition under ambient conditions.