Infectious diseases are a major cause of human mortality and have also a huge impact on agriculture. Optimal methods to detect them would be non-invasive and without extensive sample-taking/processing. We developed a set of near infrared (NIR) fluorescent nanosensors and used them for remote fingerprinting of clinically important bacteria/viruses and to detect pathogen responses in plants [1,2,3]. The nanosensors are based on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) that fluoresce in the NIR optical tissue transparency window. To identify bacteria relevant for humans they were chemically tailored to detect released metabolites as well as specific virulence factors (lipopolysaccharides, siderophores, DNases, proteases) and integrated into functional hydrogel arrays with different sensors. These hydrogels are able to distinguish important bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, …) by NIR imaging. Similar sensors allowed us to visualize the chemical defense of plants in response to pathogens and to detect the corona virus. In summary, such nanosensors in combination with NIR imaging concepts demonstrate huge potential for precise monitoring of pathogens.
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