Recent Uses of Paper Microfluidics in Isothermal Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Microfluidics
• Molecular Diagnostics

Background:

• Isothermal nucleic acid amplification tests offer advantages over PCR due to simplified constant-temperature requirements.
• Paper microfluidics are increasingly integrated into these tests for automation.
• The COVID-19 pandemic spurred significant advancements in isothermal amplification technologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the literature on paper microfluidic applications in isothermal nucleic acid amplification from 2020 to the present.
• To identify trends in amplification methods, detection techniques, and integration levels on paper platforms.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of scientific publications from 2020 onwards.
• Analysis of studies incorporating paper microfluidics with isothermal amplification techniques like RPA, LAMP, and RCA.
• Categorization of detection methods including colorimetric, fluorometric, flow distance, and SERS-based approaches.

Main Results:

• Numerous studies demonstrate amplification and detection on paper microfluidic platforms.
• Recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA), loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), and rolling circle amplification (RCA) are commonly employed.
• Colorimetric and fluorometric detection methods are prevalent, with emerging use of flow distance and SERS.
• Few studies have achieved nucleic acid extraction or fully integrated systems (extraction, amplification, detection) on paper.

Conclusions:

• Paper microfluidics show great promise for automating isothermal nucleic acid amplification and detection.
• Further research is needed to develop fully integrated, paper-based systems for comprehensive sample-to-answer solutions.
• Advancements in paper microfluidics can enhance the accessibility and efficiency of molecular diagnostics.