October 18, 2022 – Observations from ASV 2022

Spectradyne recently participated as a sponsor at the American Society for Virology (ASV) 2022 Annual Meeting in Madison, WI. This was the first time we had attended this event, and we came away truly impressed! With nearly 1,500 scientists registered from all over the world, it was extremely well-attended. The group was very serious and engaged, with workshops and poster sessions going out until 10pm most days!

Spectradyne’s presence turned out to be eye-opening for many attendees, as many of them had little or no experience with automated nanoparticle size and concentration methods such as the nCS1. Almost all were mainly familiar with classical methods of obtaining virus titer using either infectivity assays (e.g., plaque assays) or chemical/physical assays that measure specific virion components, such as ELISA and PCR techniques. While these techniques are obviously well-established, they are rather labor-intensive and can take anywhere from hours to days to perform.

Many attendees became greatly interested when they understood that the microfluidic resistive pulse sensing (MRPS) technology of the nCS1 could yield a total virus titer typically in 3-5 minutes! Many saw this as a potential “game-changer” in how they do their research and virus production. Of particular interest to some, was the potential use of the nCS1 to get rapid titer during the virus isolation/purification process, as shown in the figure. This would provide near-real-time monitoring of the process, where previously there was no easy way to accomplish this.

Rapid titer measurements made with the nCS1 quantify virus enrichment during processing. The concentration and purity of virus in the product increases with each stage of purification.

As previously stated, we found the attendees to be very engaged (and engaging!), and really appreciate the efforts spent by those who stopped by our booth to sincerely understand the technology of the nCS1, and how it might help them in their work! The conference itself was also very well-organized and run, so we truly look forward to participating again at ASV 2023, to be held next year at the University of Georgia.

Not to be political here, but one last interesting observation was that at a convention of virologists, all but a few were wearing masks — food for thought!

From sunscreen to liquor to the COVID vaccines, nanoparticles are all around us — let’s keep measuring!