The Polymer Society of Korea

Abstract

While the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic has passed, it left an important lesson for molecular diagnostics: rapid testing is insufficient if workflows remain complex and infrastructure-dependent. One major bottleneck revealed during the pandemic was RNA extraction, which still limits the scalability and accessibility of nucleic acid testing. In this context, we present a charge-shifting polyplex concept that reframes RNA extraction as an intrinsic, material-driven function rather than a separate manual step. By exploiting electrostatic interactions between viral RNA and poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl acrylate) (pDMAEA), RNA is automatically captured and released through programmed charge conversion during amplification, collapsing multiple steps into a single workflow. More broadly, this work highlights how lessons from COVID-19 can guide future diagnostic design, emphasizing simplicity, robustness, and integration as priorities for preparedness against emerging infectious diseases.