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Vaccinations are the best way to prevent epidemics. However, pathogens evolve their structure frequently and rapidly, rendering current methods of vaccine development not fast enough, as demonstrated by the current COVID-19 pandemic.
BioCopy is revolutionising vaccine development with its innovative technology. Molecular changes in new or mutated pathogens can be identified within days, so that an adapted, optimal vaccine can be made quickly available to protect against upcoming pandemics. The basis of the BioCopy innovation is a biomolecule copier, which, in principle, is similar to photocopying – except that the pixels are made of DNA, RNA, or proteins. During vaccine development, the genetic information of a pathogen is transferred to a special cavity chip in such a way that each individual cavity contains a different fragment or mutation of the pathogen genome. Each cavity corresponds to an individual reaction chamber during the copying process – a ‘DNA pixel’. After adding a transcription/translation mix and sealing the cavity chip with a specially coated glass slide, each DNA pixel generates copies of itself as DNA, RNA, or protein. The copy product binds to the slide surface, creating a corresponding array. The resulting microarrays allow the analysis of thousands of spots (‘pixels’) simultaneously; this is done label-free and in real time using our single colour reflectometry (SCORE)- detection system. Therefore, kinetic parameters (e.g., KD, kon, and koff values) can be determined for each spot of the microarray.
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