Our team members, Patryk Obstarczyk and Joanna Olesiak-Bańska, alongside scientists from Adam Mickiewicz University, have published their findings about developing SARS-CoV-2 Virus-like particles (VLP) with plasmonic gold Cores and S1-Spike protein coronas. They have developed a method for the preparation of VLPs imitating the virus responsible for the COVID-19 disease: the SARS-CoV-2. The particles have Au cores surrounded by “coronas” of S1 domains of the virus’s spike protein. Importantly, they are safe to use and specifically interact with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Moreover, Au cores exhibit localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), which makes the synthesized VLPs suitable for biosensing applications. During the studies, the effect allowed them to visualize the interaction between the VLPs and the antibodies and identify the characteristic vibrational signals. Full paper manuscript could be found here. Congratulations!