Laura Lechuga

Laura M. Lechuga Gómez (Seville, 1962) is a Spanish microbiologist who is a biosensor researcher and professor. She leads the Networking Biomedical Research Center (CIBER) and the Division of Nanobiosensors and Bioanalysis at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2).

Laura M. Lechuga
Alma materSpanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Scientific career
InstitutionsCatalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2)
University of Campinas
UiT The Arctic University of Norway
ThesisIII-V semiconductor Schottky diodes for gas sensing and biosensing (1992)

She was director of the Department of Sensors and Biosensors of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). She has written more than 200 highly consulted scientific publications and she is the owner of 8 families of Patents – seven have been transferred to the industry through the spin-off companies SENSIA, S.L. and BIOD, S.L.-. She has been part of almost 60 Research projects, most of then international ones, and she is an active scientific promoter.

During the COVID-19 pandemic Lechuga developed a simple, low-cost and fast optical biosensor to detect COVID-19.

Early life and education

She was born in Seville, capital of Andalusia, in 1962. Whilst she was at high school she became interested in molecular biology.[1] She eventually studied chemistry at university, Universidad de Cádiz (Andalusia), where she was inspired to pursue a career in research.[1] Lechuga completed her doctoral research at the Complutense University of Madrid. After earning her PhD in 1992, Lechuga was appointed to the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology.[1]

Research and career

When Lechuga returned to Spain in 1995, she was appointed head of the biosensor group at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).[2][3] In 2008 she joined the faculty at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2).[1] In 2012 was appointed an Adjunct Professor at the University of Tromsø, and in 2013 a visiting professor at the University of Campinas.[4]

Lechuga develops silicon based biosensors which can be integrated into a lab-on-a-chip platform.[5] She has developed different types of sensors, including; photonic Biosensors,[6] Mach–Zehnder interferometers, opto-nano-mechanical sensors and magnetoplasmonic sensors.[4] She looks to apply these sensors in clinical settings,[7] for the diagnosis of cancer[8] and other diseases, as well as environmental monitoring.[9][10] In 2018 she demonstrated an interferometry-based point-of-care device for the fast and sensitive quantification of Escherichia coli.[11] The device contained microarrays printed onto high performance nanoplasmonic substrates, and could even be performed by non-expert personnel.[11][12]

During the COVID-19 pandemic Lechuga developed a simple, low-cost and fast COVID-19 testing system.[13] Her proposal came out of a rapid grant scheme that the European Commission established at the end of January 2020 in an effort to tackle the emerging pandemic.[14] Lechuga developed the idea within ten days, making use of her experience building optical biosensors.[11] The test is based on a nanoscale optical sensor and includes a receptor protein (antibody) that is capable of detecting the coronavirus.[15][16] The sensor itself consists of a waveguide interferometer.[17] It makes use of sample of saliva or sputum to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2.[18] If the saliva contains SARS-CoV-2, it will bind to the antibodies, and, in turn, change the transmission of a beam of light passing through the optical sensor.[19] Once the light has been analysed the resulted will be transmitted to a smart phone or tablet, in a process that takes less than 30 minutes.[19] Complimentary DNA probes will identify the viral RNA without the need for Polymerase chain reaction (PCR).[17]

Awards and honours

Selected publications
  • Sepúlveda, Borja; Angelomé, Paula C.; Lechuga, Laura M.; Liz-Marzán, Luis M. (2009). "LSPR-based nanobiosensors". Nano Today. 4 (3): 244–251. doi:10.1016/j.nantod.2009.04.001. ISSN 1748-0132.
  • Estevez, M.C.; Alvarez, M.; Lechuga, L.M. (26 September 2011). "Integrated optical devices for lab-on-a-chip biosensing applications". Laser & Photonics Reviews. 6 (4): 463–487. doi:10.1002/lpor.201100025. hdl:10261/51022. ISSN 1863-8880.
  • Prieto, F; Sepúlveda, B; Calle, A; Llobera, A; Domínguez, C; Abad, A; Montoya, A; Lechuga, L M (2 July 2003). "An integrated optical interferometric nanodevice based on silicon technology for biosensor applications". Nanotechnology. 14 (8): 907–912. doi:10.1088/0957-4484/14/8/312. ISSN 0957-4484.
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References
  1. "OSA: Laura Lechuga". Optical Society of America. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  2. "ORC Seminar Series "PHOTONIC NANOBIOSENSORS FOR LAB-ON-A-CHIP APPLICATIONS" | Optoelectronics Research Centre | University of Southampton". University of Southampton. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  3. "L.M. Lechuga". journals.elsevier.com. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  4. "Laura Lechuga". ipmt.ucy.ac.cy. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  5. "Laura M. Lechuga – ICN2". icn2.cat. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  6. Lopez, Gerardo A.; Estevez, M.-Carmen; Soler, Maria; Lechuga, Laura M. (6 January 2017). "Recent advances in nanoplasmonic biosensors: applications and lab-on-a-chip integration". Nanophotonics. 6 (1): 123–136. doi:10.1515/nanoph-2016-0101. ISSN 2192-8614.
  7. "Photonic nanobiosensors early diagnostics, Laura M. Lechuga". European Conference on Integrated Optics. 14 November 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  8. "Editor's Pick: Simple, Low-Cost, and Timely Optical Biosensors for the Detection of Epigenetic Biomarkers: The Future of Cancer Diagnosis". European Medical Journal. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  9. "Professor Laura Lechuga: New Analyst Associate Editor – Analyst Blog". Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  10. Chocarro-Ruiz, Blanca; Fernández-Gavela, Adrián; Herranz, Sonia; Lechuga, Laura M (1 June 2017). "Nanophotonic label-free biosensors for environmental monitoring". Current Opinion in Biotechnology. Energy biotechnology • Environmental biotechnology. 45: 175–183. doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2017.03.016. ISSN 0958-1669.
  11. ZonaIT. "An interferometric point-of-care device for fast and sensitive bacteria quantification – Biotech Spain". biotech-spain.com. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  12. Dey, Priyanka; Fabri-Faja, Nuria; Calvo-Lozano, Olalla; Terborg, Roland A.; Belushkin, Alexander; Yesilkoy, Filiz; Fàbrega, Anna; Ruiz-Rodriguez, Juan Carlos; Ferrer, Ricard; González-López, Juan José; Estévez, Maria Carmen (25 January 2019). "Label-free Bacteria Quantification in Blood Plasma by a Bioprinted Microarray Based Interferometric Point-of-Care Device". ACS Sensors. 4 (1): 52–60. doi:10.1021/acssensors.8b00789.
  13. Kliver, Jenny. "ICN2 leads a European project to diagnose the COVID-19 disease in 30 minutes". Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology – BIST. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  14. "Laura Lechuga coordina uno de los proyectos europeos para estudiar el coronavirus". ciber-bbn.es. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  15. TV3, Un possible detector del coronavirus (in Catalan), retrieved 1 April 2020
  16. "El proyecto europeo CoNVat, liderado desde España, diseñará un sistema de diagnóstico para el Covid-19". abc (in Spanish). 1 April 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  17. "Coronavirus: CoNVaT diseñará un sistema de diagnóstico". Consalud (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  18. Press, Europa (12 March 2020). "Laura Lechuga, la científica que creará detectores inmediatos del Covid-19: "Trabajamos a contrarreloj"". infosalus.com. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  19. "Laura Lechuga talks about CONVAT, the project for a faster and cheaper diagnose of COVID-19 | Nanbiosis". Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  20. "Prof. Laura Lechuga receives the Physics, Innovation and Technology RSEF-FBBVA Award – ICN2". icn2.cat. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  21. "Laura M. Lechuga, galardonada en los Premios de la Física de la RSEF-Fundación BBVA". ciber-bbn.es. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  22. "Prof. Laura Lechuga – AcademiaNet". academia-net.org. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
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