Researchers at the University of Chicago, including CCB student Jill Rosenberg, have designed a completely novel potential treatment for COVID-19: nanoparticles that capture SARS-CoV-2 viruses within the body and then use the body’s own immune system to destroy them.
To design the nanotrap, the research team—led by postdoctoral scholar Min Chen and graduate student Jill Rosenberg—looked into the mechanism SARS-CoV-2 uses to bind to cells
This technique can be used for different virus variants. “That’s what is so powerful about this nanotrap,” Rosenberg said. “It’s easily modulated. We can switch out different antibodies or proteins or target different immune cells, based on what we need with new variants.”
The nanotraps can be stored in a standard freezer and could ultimately be given via an intranasal spray, which would place them directly in the respiratory system and make them most effective.