The simplicity, single viral particle sensitivity, and capability of
selective multiplexed detection of our approach suggest that this
work could lead to useful viral sensing devices. Although parallel
detection has been demonstrated for only two distinct viruses in
this work, assembly methods have demonstrated much larger
arrays of reproducible nanowire devices (14) that might simultaneously
screen for the presence of 100 or more different
viruses. Our use of antibodies to provide selectivity also has
limitations common to immunoanalysis and PCR analysis methods
(2) in the detection of rapidly mutating, engineered andor
new viruses. Yet, the potential to carry out multiplexing in large
nanowire arrays could be exploited to overcome this limitation
by including nanowires modified with general viral cell-surface
receptors (23) and antibody libraries. This could enable rapid
identification of viral families and provide an indication of
mutations in samples as required for robust medical and bioterrorism
detection. Lastly, we believe these same capabilities
and the potential to characterize a range of virus–receptor
interactions could provide unique opportunities for fundamental
virology and drug discovery.