Infrared Spectroscopy Combined with Multivariate Analysis, a Powerful Diagnostic Tool for Biological Applications
The current situation of the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus highlights the urgent need to develop new rapid, reliable, and low-cost diagnostic methods. To prevent and control the spread of this virus in a population, it is essential to have available rapid diagnostic techniques to enable front-line health control. Infrared spectroscopy is the analysis of infrared light interacting with a compound. From this interaction, a unique fingerprint or spectrum of this compound is obtained. Especially, the application of infrared using the Fourier Transform (called FT) combined with attenuated total reflectance (ATR) mode allows to determine chemical compositions of biological samples, producing highly specific “fingerprints” for bacteria, yeasts or viruses. The spectra obtained show mid-infrared bands related to fundamental vibrational transitions associated with functional groups of major cellular components that show the chemical composition of the microorganism or virus studied. When data from these spectra is combined with chemometrics, hidden information of this compound can be discovered. Infrared spectroscopy combined with multivariate analysis can be easily used for metabolic fingerprinting in disease diagnosis. Recently, the equipments that are being used to apply this technique, have been miniaturized allowing the development of portable or hand-held systems or mini-spectrometers that are simple to use, require minimal or no sample preparation, and perform similarly to laboratory benchtop instruments. In this seminar, some examples of this powerful diagnostic tool will be detailed explained.
Speaker
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Sílvia de LamoChemical Engineering Department, URVSílvia de Lamo-Castellví (Tarragona, 1977) graduated in Chemistry in 2000 and Food Science and Technology with Honors in 2001 (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona). She obtained her PhD in Food Sciences with Honors in 2006 (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona). Then, she held a position as a lecturer at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya for one semester (fall 2006). Later, she was postdoctoral researcher at the Ohio State University (2007 to 2008). In 2009, she accepted a position as an Assistant Professor in the Departament d’Enginyeria Química at Universitat Rovira i Virgili. In 2019, she was promoted to Associate Professor which is her current position. She is a member of the Food, Innovation & Engineering research group. Her research interests are in the development of novel methods for discrimination and detection of microorganisms based on infrared and Raman spectroscopy combined with multivariate analysis. She is also using infrared technology for food authentication and using novel technologies such 3D printing and ingredients such insects for food product design. She has published >40 papers in indexed journals and 3 book chapters mainly in the field of Food Science and Technology. She has participated in more than 30 national and international projects with institutions and food companies. She is actively communicating and disseminating her research with more than 30 collaborations with radio and television programs and newspapers.