Viruses are the smallest known microbes, yet they cause the most significant losses in human health. Most of the time, the best-known cure for viruses is the innate immunological defense system of the host; otherwise, the initial prevention of viral infection is the only alternative. Therefore, diagnosis is the primary strategy toward the overarching goal of virus control and elimination. The introduction of a new class of nanoscale materials with multiple unique properties and functions has sparked a series of breakthrough applications. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are widely reported to guide an impressive resurgence in biomedical and diagnostic applications. Here, we review the applications of AuNPs in virus testing and detection. The developed AuNP-based detection techniques are reported for various groups of clinically relevant viruses with a special focus on the applied types of bio-AuNP hybrid structures, virus detection targets, and assay modalities and formats. We pay particular attention to highlighting the functional role and activity of each core Au nanostructure and the resultant detection improvements in terms of sensitivity, detection range, and time. In addition, we provide a general summary of the contributions of AuNPs to the mainstream methods of virus detection, technical measures, and recommendations required in guidance toward commercial in-field applications.

中文翻译：

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金纳米颗粒在病毒检测中的应用

病毒是已知最小的微生物，但它们对人类健康造成的损失却最为严重。大多数时候，最著名的病毒治疗方法是宿主的先天免疫防御系统。否则，最初预防病毒感染是唯一的选择。因此，诊断是实现病毒控制和消除总体目标的主要策略。具有多种独特性能和功能的新型纳米材料的推出引发了一系列突破性的应用。据广泛报道，金纳米粒子（AuNP）在生物医学和诊断应用中取得了令人印象深刻的复兴。在这里，我们回顾一下 AuNPs 在病毒测试和检测中的应用。已开发的基于 AuNP 的检测技术针对不同组的临床相关病毒进行了报道，特别关注生物 AuNP 混合结构的应用类型、病毒检测目标以及检测模式和格式。我们特别注重强调每个核心金纳米结构的功能作用和活性，以及​​由此产生的在灵敏度、检测范围和时间方面的检测改进。此外，我们还概述了金纳米粒子对主流病毒检测方法的贡献、技术措施以及指导商业现场应用所需的建议。