NEJM: COVID19 rapid detection promises to improve accuracy.

September 19, 2020 //--- Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, as well as researchers working to develop CRISPR-based COVID-19 diagnostics that produce results in 30 minutes to an hour, are similar in accuracy to the standard PCR diagnostics currently in use.
(Photo: www.pixabay.com) The new test, called STOPCovid, is still in the research stage, but in principle it can be made cheaply and people can self-test it every day.
study published in the journal New England Journal of Medicine, researchers showed that in a group of patient samples, they tested positive for 93 percent of the cases, determined by PCR testing COVID-19.
, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at McGovern, said, "We need to test quickly to be part of this situation so that people can self-test every day, which will slow down the outbreak."
", shortly after the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, Zhang Feng Labs began working with Abudayyeh and Gootenberg Labs on COVID-19 diagnostics.
they focused on developing a test called STOPCovid, which is easy to implement and does not require any specialized laboratory equipment.
hope that the tests will be suitable for future use in a variety of environments, such as doctor's offices, pharmacies, nursing homes and schools.
StopCovid, which we developed, can be done in one step," says Joung, a research executive at the Company.
specifically, the researchers concentrated viral genetic material in patient samples by adding magnetic beads that attracted RNA, without the need for time-requiring and expensive purification kits.
because of the high demand.
this enrichment step improves the sensitivity of the test until it is close to the sensitivity of the PCR.
the virus genome to the beads, we found that this allowed us to achieve a high degree of sensitivity," said Gootenberg, a scientist at the University of New China.
" researchers, in collaboration with Keith Jerome of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Alex Greninger of the University of Washington, tested 402 patient samples for STOPCovid (202 positive and 200 negative) and found that the new tests were 93 percent accurate.
also showed that, in collaboration with Ann Woolley and Deb Hung of Bregan Women's Hospital, the STOPCovid test was suitable for samples taken using less invasive front nostrils swabs.
are now being tested with saliva samples, which could make it easier to test at home.
are continuing to develop the test, hoping to deliver it to users to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
(bioon.com) Source: Rapid test for COVID-19 show improved resy Original source: Julia Joung et al, Detection of SARS-CoV-2 with SHERLOCK One-Pot Testing, New England Journal of Medicine (2020). DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc2026172.