NanoSA:Using Nanostructures for Sustainable Aquaculture

Infectious diseases are one of the most serious constraints to the expansion and development of sustainable aquaculture. Current techniques for the diagnosis of pathogenic infections in aquaculture are well established with good analytical sensitivity, but they are confined to laboratory use with labour and time intensive protocols. Slow pathogen detection leads to suboptimal disease management, leading to increased mortality, a worsening of feed conversion and a decline in animal welfare which impacts production, profitability, and loss at the first stage of the food supply chain. Reliable Point-of-Care (POC) devices, providing farm site rapid diagnosis, are currently lacking in this sector but would allow for more effective disease management practices to be implemented which would greatly improve treatment prognosis.

This project will deliver a user-friendly Lateral Flow Assay (LFA) for rapid point of care diagnosis of pathogenic infections in aquaculture. Current LFA technology suffers from low sensitivity and results are qualitative (i.e., yes/no). To combat these issues, we will integrate oxide-based nanostructures into a paper LFA which will then be analysed by a developed portable reader. This transformative development will allow for the rapid detection and quantification of pathogens to be carried out at the farm site and will enable early interventions to be made that will improve animal welfare and minimise losses.