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Updated: Apr 19, 2026
A Multi-detection Assay for Malaria Transmitting Mosquitoes
Published on: February 28, 2015
Bio-sensing with butterfly wings: naturally occurring nano-structures for SERS-based malaria parasite detection
Natalie L Garrett1, Ryo Sekine, Matthew W A Dixon
1Centre for Biospectroscopy, School of Chemistry, Monash University, 3800, Victoria, Australia. Bayden.wood@monash.edu.
Abstract:
Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a powerful tool with great potential to provide improved bio-sensing capabilities. The current 'gold-standard' method for diagnosis of malaria involves visual inspection of blood smears using light microscopy, which is time consuming and can prevent early diagnosis of the disease. We present a novel surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy substrate based on gold-coated butterfly wings, which enabled detection of malarial hemozoin pigment within lysed blood samples containing 0.005% and 0.0005% infected red blood cells.
