Over the course of only three months, a team of Vienna BioCenter scientists that participate in the VCDI efforts pushed SARS-CoV-2 detection to a new level. They now presented their approach in a preprint paper.
Around the World, the current method of choice for COVID-19 screening is based on real-time qPCR. While this is accurate and reliable, it requires expensive equipment and specialist staff - crucial drawbacks in low-resource environments.
A team of VCDI scientists from the labs of Andrea Pauli (IMP) and Julius Brennecke (IMBA) at the Vienna BioCenter, and collaborators, have now developed an alternative method that is cheap, fast, and easy to handle.
The assays 'bead-LAMP' and 'HomeDip-LAMP' were optimised to generate robust results with high sensitivity and could be game-changers. Requiring only a heating device and delivering read-outs as a simple colour change, the assays are ideal for routine population screenings in disadvantaged locations, such as developing countries.
The scientists reported their findings in a paper that was made available through the preprint server bioRxiv. You can find a more detailed news item on the website of the Vienna BioCenter:
Paper
Max. J. Kellner, et al. (2020): “Scalable, rapid and highly sensitive isothermal detection of SARS-CoV-2 for laboratory and home testing”. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.23.166397v1
From chromosome folding by loop extrusion to anti-plasmid nucleases in bacteria
11:00 - 12:00
IMBA/GMI Lecture HallIdentifying and exploiting cell-state dependent metabolic programs
11:00 - 12:00 IMP Lecture HallMind matters. VBC mental health awareness
13:30 - 14:30 IMP Lecture HallChromosomes as Mechanical Objects: from E.coli to Meiosis to Mammalian cells
11:00 - 12:00 IMBA/GMI Lecture HallConvergent evolution of CO2-fixing liquid-liquid phase separation
11:30 - 12:30 GMI Orange Seminar RoomNew ways of leading: inclusive leadership and revising academic hierarchies
14:15 - 15:15 IMP Lecture HallTitle to be announced
14:00 - 15:00 Lecture Hall AandB, VBC5Decoding Molecular Plasticity in the Dark Proteome of the Nuclear Pore Complex
11:00 - 12:00 IMBA/GMI Lecture HallNeurodiversity in academia
14:00 - 15:00 IMP Lecture HallTitle to be announced
11:00 - 12:00