Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

Drug usage is responsible for numerous adverse effects on public health and safety (overdoses, car accidents, crime...). Accordingly, simple and rapid detection of illicit drug smuggling and of drug usage during driving is of paramount importance. The latter is particularly relevant in the context of the expected 2018 marijuana legalization, accompanied with a so-called ""zero-tolerance while driving"" policy for which appropriate detection-technology is not currently available. Detection often relies on non-optimal targets. For example, studies indicate that to evaluate driving impairment induced by cannabis, it would be more appropriate to use a ratio of THC (the main active ingredient of marijuana) and metabolized THC molecules. In parallel, volatile derivatives of cocaine are more useful for detection of drug smuggling.* Most of the current portable technologies use antibodies, which do not discern THC from its metabolites and do not bind to the most volatile compounds derived from drugs (like cocaine derivatives). The hydrophobicity of these drugs and their derivatives poses technical problems to find biosensing-molecules that recognize them. We plan to overcome this challenge with modified aptamers (which are DNA molecules that recognize target analytes with a tailored selectivity) combined to an electrochemical platform for transduction of the binding event. The proposed advances are expected to lead to biosensors for simple, cheap, ultrasensitive and rapid drug detection which will help counter drug smuggling and provide much needed tools for cannabis testing for drivers.* The partnership with the two companies involved and the team put together to achieve these goals combines high level expertise and infrastructures that will provide an outstanding environment for the training of students and PDFs. In addition, it will contribute to keep Canada at the forefront of aptamer and biosensing research as well as provide technologies to solve very current problematics in Canada.*