Discovery and Characterization of Spike N‐Terminal Domain‐Binding Aptamers for Rapid SARS‐CoV‐2 Detection

Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has devastated families and disrupted healthcare, economies societies across the globe. Molecular recognition agents that are specific for distinct viral proteins critical components rapid diagnostics targeted therapeutics. In this work, we demonstrate selection of novel DNA aptamers bind to SARS‐CoV‐2 spike glycoprotein with high specificity affinity (<80 nM). Through binding assays resolution cryo‐EM, SNAP1 (SARS‐CoV‐2 protein N‐terminal domain‐binding aptamer 1) binds S domain. We applied in lateral flow (LFAs) ELISAs detect UV‐inactivated at concentrations as low 5×10 5 copies mL −1 . is therefore a promising molecular tool diagnostics.