Polymerase Chain Reaction News and Research

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Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a revolutionary laboratory technique that enables the replication of a specific DNA sequence. Using PCR, millions of copies of a target DNA can be easily synthesized within a short period of time.

Scientists discover new method to retrieve lost single-cell RNA-sequencing information

Sequencing RNA from individual cells can reveal a great deal of information about what those cells are doing in the body. MIT researchers have now greatly boosted the amount of information gleaned from each of those cells, by modifying the commonly used Seq-Well technique.

14 Oct 2020

Salivary samples highly effective in detecting SARS-CoV-2

A team of scientists from the United States has found that oral salivary samples are less sensitive than nasal-oropharyngeal swabs for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA

13 Oct 2020

Mothers transmit passive protection against SARS-CoV-2 to their newborns

A recent study published on the preprint server medRxiv in October 2020 shows that newborns may be protected from acquiring severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection by antibodies in the mother’s blood that travels through the placenta.

13 Oct 2020

COVID-19 survivors may have protective antibodies for 4 months

The study, published in the journal Science Immunology, highlights the body's immune response against COVID-19. Also, it offers hope that people who are infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus will develop lasting protection against reinfection.

11 Oct 2020

Rapid and sensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 with functionalized magnetic nanoparticles

A recent study published on the preprint server arXiv in October 2020 shows the potential for using functionalized magnetic nanoparticles to detect the presence of the virus in a sample.

11 Oct 2020

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 viral persistence in built environments

In a recent paper in an open-access journal, mSystems, published by The American Society for Microbiology, Ceth W. Parker et al. show challenges in recovering the virus, change in infectivity, and the case of viral persistence in built environments.

8 Oct 2020

Case report of arthritis in a COVID-19 patient

The current paper published in the The Lancet Rheumatology discusses arthritis in a 58-year-old white woman with COVID-19 of less than severe intensity.

7 Oct 2020

Low lymphocyte count before COVID-19 heightens death risk

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have conducted a study suggesting that having a low white blood cell count (lymphocytopenia) prior to exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may be associated with an increased risk of dying from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

6 Oct 2020

Antigen testing detects SARS-CoV-2 better than PCR

A team of scientists from the United States demonstrates that rapid antigen tests for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are more effective in determining the actual infection status in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) than real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR)-based tests.

6 Oct 2020

Easier-to-use coronavirus saliva tests start to catch on

As the coronavirus pandemic broke out across the country, health care providers and scientists relied on the standard method for detecting respiratory viruses: sticking a long swab deep into the nose to get a sample. The obstacles to implementing such testing on a mass scale quickly became clear.

6 Oct 2020

Cats and dogs are low risk for SARS-CoV-2 transmission to humans

Researchers from the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University studied the possible transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among domestic cats and dogs.

5 Oct 2020

Less than 10% of US adults have SARS-CoV-2 antibodies

A new study by researchers at Stanford University and Ascend Clinical Laboratory and published in the journal The Lancet in September 2020 reports the prevalence of antibodies to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus in a dialysis patient population in the US.

5 Oct 2020

Study fails to establish independent risk factors for SARS-COV-2 infection in HIV patients

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread worldwide, a new study published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases in September 2020 reports that people with HIV infection are not at greater risk of COVID-19 compared to the general population.

5 Oct 2020

Individual and socioeconomic factors associated with COVID infection, hospitalization and death

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is actively spreading across nations, with millions of people affected. In the United States alone, more than 7.45 million people have been infected, and more than 210,000 have died.

5 Oct 2020

NIST technique could improve detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus

A multidisciplinary research team at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a way to increase the sensitivity of the primary test used to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19.

5 Oct 2020

Sebum changes in COVID-19 patients, for future testing and prognosis

Now, a new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in September 2020 shows that sebum lipids change in COVID-19. This could help develop a cheap and straightforward method of non-invasive diagnosis.

5 Oct 2020

Feasibility of using dry reagents LAMP assay for SARS-CoV-2 detection

In a new study published on the preprint server medRxiv, researchers evaluated the suitability of the Loopamp SARS-CoV-2 Detection kit from Eiken Chemica, Japan, for detecting SARS-CoV-2. This is a LAMP method that uses dry reagents for RNA amplification.

5 Oct 2020

AbC-19 blood test detects COVID-19 antibodies 20 weeks after first symptoms/PCR positive result

Serological antibody immunoassays are one of the essential tools to combat severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. In a new study, Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies are detected in a large cohort, lasting up to 140 days. The researchers propose an alternative to reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) positive status as a standard for assessing SARS-CoV-2 antibody assays and show robust performance metrics for the AbC-19 rapid test.

5 Oct 2020

Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses in patients with aggressive hematological malignancies

Patients with hematological malignancy (PHM), also infected with COVID-19, were investigated for SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses while undergoing systemic anti-cancer therapy. While no obvious correlation is found between the serological results and the hematological diagnosis and the treatment, the immune response is similar to the severity of COVID-19 infection observed in the general population.

4 Oct 2020

Rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 with portable CRISPR-based mobile phone diagnostic test

A large group of researchers from the United States reported developing an amplification-free CRISPR-based mobile phone assay for direct detection of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from nasal swabs. Their state-of-the-art paper is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

4 Oct 2020