Preservation Matrix for Improved Biological Specimen Storage and Recovery

Luna Innovations will determine the feasibility of modifying our novel bio-encapsulation technology for enhanced recovery of viral and bacterial targets from swab-like biospecimens. In the proposed Phase I, Luna will work with Dr. Hudson (North Carolina State Univiersity, College of Textiles) in order to modify our encapsulation process for integration with non-woven materials for swab collection. The swab material will be composed of FDA-approved reversible-biopolymers allowing for easy dissolution of the preservation matrix for increased recovery of specimen analytes. Luna's preservation technology has been successfully applied to protein and whole cell encapsulation, providing significant improvements in storage life-time and temperature stability reducing the need for cold chain requirements while improving the accuracy of pathogen detection. In order to demonstrate enhanced recovery of analytes, various pathogens (bacterial and viral) will be tested for viability and detection rate as a function of preservation time and temperature. The compatibility with standard downstream analyses will also be determined. Phase II will focus on increasing preservation time (transport and storage) while also maximizing recovery efficiency of biospecimen analytes and optimizing integration with downstream analytical detection methods.