This is all you have to do. In less than an hour, you can not only find out if you are infected with COVID-19, but also find out about your variants without leaving home.
This is the hope and promise of the new saliva-based COVID-19 test currently under development.
The study author, Dr. Xiao Tan, a clinical researcher at the Wyss Institute of Bioinspired Engineering at Harvard University, said: “There are several home tests that can tell you if you are infected with COVID-19, but none of them test for mutations.” In Boston.
There are currently no plans to commercialize the test, but a new proof-of-concept study shows that the technology is as effective as the gold standard PCR test, and the cost per test may be as low as $3, which is much cheaper than currently available COVID- 19 Home test.
This test is called the smallest instrument SHERLOCK (miSHERLOCK) and is based on CRISPR gene targeting technology. It only requires ready-made chemical reagents, 3D printers and common equipment.
In contrast, PCR-based COVID-19 testing requires highly specialized equipment, and it takes about four hours to obtain results. Tan explained that if PCR technology is to be used to test a specific variation in a sample, it must be genetically sequenced, which requires more time and resources.
There are currently multiple home COVID-19 tests available. Some tests require samples to be sent to the laboratory for analysis, while others use various techniques such as test cards and treatment fluids to provide results at home. The PCR test cannot be performed at home.
Therefore, researchers from the Wyss Institute, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and several hospitals in the Boston area collaborated to develop this new test.
In this study, the researchers tested the saliva samples of 27 COVID-19 patients and 21 people who were not infected with the virus. The test recognizes the virus approximately 96% of the time, which is equivalent to a PCR test. More importantly, the test detected three different variants of COVID-19: variants in the UK, South Africa, and Brazil.
The researchers pointed out that this study was conducted before the Delta variant began to spread widely, so it did not look for this strain, but the technology can be quickly adjusted to detect other variants.
“Theoretically, you will find that you are positive for COVID-19 but negative for Delta,” Tan said.
Dr. Rose Lee, a lecturer in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and study author, said the test can also be used in areas where genetic sequencing facilities are not available.
How does this work
Tan explained that the new test is a simple battery-powered device that includes two chambers: a heated sample preparation chamber and an unheated reaction chamber. The user spits water into the sample preparation room, increases the temperature, and waits three to six minutes for the saliva to be sucked into the filter.
Next, you remove the filter and transfer it to the reaction chamber. “The virus is the key to the signal,” Tan said. “If there is no virus, there is no signal, but if there is a signal, it can be amplified.”
The results are easy to explain. “If it glows green, you have COVID-19,” Tan said.
There is a chamber for general COVID-19 testing, and other chambers can be added to test variants. “We are imagining that the health authorities will pick the variants most relevant to the area,” he said.
Tan said that if the viral load is low, the accompanying app can help quantify the sample and provide options for reporting results.
The research was published online in the journal on August 6 Scientific progress.
Experts who were not involved in the study said that there are still many questions about the role that this type of test might play in the ongoing pandemic.
Dr. Jeffrey SoRelle, a pathologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said: “This is the first instant test that can determine variants and can be adjusted when other variants appear. “. “There is no difference in management based on variants, but there may be variants that require us to change our treatment methods in the future.”
Dr. Heba Mostafa, Assistant Professor of Pathology and Director of the Laboratory of Molecular Virology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, agreed. “The question is how valuable an immediate test for a specific variant is. The answer is not clear because the variant is not operational for patient management,” she said.
Mustafa added that this information is more useful on a larger scale and can better track mutations that are spreading on a global scale.
More information
visit U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention More information about COVID variants.
Source: Xiao Tan, MD, PhD, clinical researcher, Wyss Institute of Bio-Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston; Rose Lee, MD, pediatric infectious disease specialist at Boston Children’s Hospital; Jeffrey SoRelle, MD, pathologist, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas; Heba Mostafa, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pathology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, director of the Laboratory of Molecular Virology; Scientific progress, August. June 6, 2021, online