Advanced Functional Materials and Innovative Recognition Strategies for Pathogenic Microorganism Diagnosis

Infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance continue to threaten human and animal health worldwide, creating an urgent need for rapid, sensitive, and practical diagnostic strategies for pathogenic microorganisms. Although conventional molecular and culture-based methods remain important, they are often limited by long turnaround times, insufficient sensitivity in complex samples, or restricted applicability in point-of-care and field settings. Recent advances in functional materials, biosensing technologies, and molecular recognition systems are opening new opportunities for next-generation pathogen diagnosis with improved analytical performance and translational potential.This Research Topic will showcase mechanistic, methodological, and application-oriented studies on how advanced functional materials and innovative recognition strategies can improve the capture, enrichment, identification, and monitoring of pathogenic microorganisms and their biomarkers. Particular attention will be given to diagnostic platforms for bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites in clinical, veterinary, food, and environmental settings. We also welcome studies in which sequencing, bioinformatics, or computational approaches are used as supportive tools for pathogen diagnosis, surveillance, or diagnostic interpretation, rather than as purely descriptive "omics" investigations.As we explore this topic, potential article types and study areas include, but are not limited to:Original research on functional materials for pathogen capture, enrichment, separation, signal amplification, or sensitive detection in complex samples.Studies of biosensing platforms based on nanomaterials, porous framework materials, hydrogels, AIEgens, nanozymes, or related materials for pathogen diagnosis.Investigations into innovative recognition elements for pathogen detection, including CRISPR/Cas systems, aptamers, antibodies, nanobodies, molecularly imprinted polymers, bacteriophages, and phage-displayed peptides.Work on optical, electrochemical, and multimodal sensing strategies for the rapid detection of pathogenic microorganisms, antimicrobial resistance-associated targets, or infection-related biomarkers.Development of sample pretreatment and low-abundance target enrichment approaches that improve diagnostic sensitivity and specificity in clinical or field-relevant specimens.Studies on integrated and portable diagnostic systems, including microfluidic platforms, lateral flow assays, wearable devices, and smartphone-assisted readout technologies for point-of-care testing.Research on the rapid detection, monitoring, or risk assessment of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens and resistance determinants in medical, veterinary, or environmental contexts.Application of sequencing, bioinformatics, artificial intelligence, or computational analysis to support pathogen identification, diagnostic interpretation, or surveillance when clearly linked to translational diagnostic outcomes.Clinical, veterinary, food, or environmental validation studies that evaluate the performance, robustness, and practical applicability of emerging pathogen diagnostic technologies.Review, Mini-Review, Methods, or Perspective articles summarizing recent advances, challenges, and future directions in materials-enabled and recognition-driven pathogen diagnosis. Topic editors: Rui-Si Hu, Muhammad Ehsan, Kui Gu Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/79808/advanced-functional-materials-and-innovative-recognition-strategies-for-pathogenic-microorganism-diagnosis