Light-Enhanced Molecular Diagnostics for Infectious Diseases: Optical Innovations from Nanoscale Sensing to Clinical Translation

Molecular diagnostics have become central to infectious disease detection, enabling accurate identification of pathogens and their resistance profiles at molecular levels. Conventional methods, while powerful, can face limitations such as insufficient signal strength, slow processing times, and challenges in detecting low-abundance targets in complex biological samples. Light-enhanced molecular diagnostic technologies—leveraging plasmonics, photonics, and nano optical effects—have emerged as highly promising solutions to overcome these barriers. Recent studies have demonstrated significant advances in fluorescence, chemiluminescence, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), and photoacoustic applications for sensitive pathogen detection. These approaches provide enhanced analytical performance but require further research to improve reproducibility, simplify device integration, and validate performance in real-world clinical environments. Current gaps persist in translating lab-based optical platforms into point-of-care systems for infectious disease detection, particularly within resource-limited or decentralized healthcare settings.

This Research Topic aims to advance the understanding and clinical implementation of light-enhanced molecular diagnostic strategies specifically related to infection biology. The goal is to strengthen the theoretical and technical foundation of optical signal amplification and to foster translation from optical detection mechanisms to functional clinical diagnostics. We encourage studies addressing key questions such as how light–matter interactions at the nano- and microscale can amplify biological recognition events, how optical sensing technologies can be integrated into compact diagnostic platforms, and how such systems can improve pathogen detection, antimicrobial resistance monitoring, and outbreak response.

To gather further insights into light-based molecular diagnostic innovations within cellular and infection microbiology, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

o Light-induced signal amplification for detecting pathogens, virulence factors, or antimicrobial resistance genes

o Fluorescence, chemiluminescence, and SERS-based platforms for microbial sensing

o Plasmonic and nano-photonic materials for enhanced infection diagnostics

o Photothermal and photoacoustic detection strategies for molecular and cellular-level analysis

o Integration of optical sensing with microfluidic or lab-on-chip systems for pathogen identification

o Cross-disciplinary collaborations bridging optics, nanotechnology, chemistry, and microbiology

o Translational studies validating optical diagnostic devices in clinical or field settings

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: optical biosensing, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), plasmonic nanostructures, point-of-care diagnostics, infectious disease detection

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.