Nucleic Acid News and Research

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What are the potential benefits of SARS-CoV-2 antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests?

A team of researchers from the Johns Hopkins University, USA; Imperial College London, UK; and Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, Switzerland, recently compared the effectiveness of Ag-RDT, NAAT, and clinical judgment alone in the diagnosis of COVID-19 in symptomatic patients.

22 Dec 2020

Researchers create new polymer to deliver DNA and RNA-based therapies for diseases

University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers in the Department of Chemistry have created a new polymer to deliver DNA and RNA-based therapies for diseases.

21 Dec 2020

Rapid no-frills detection of SARS-CoV-2 in saliva with LAMP-Cas13

A new paper that appeared as a preprint on the medRxiv* server in December 2020 describes a nucleic acid test validated on saliva samples.

18 Dec 2020

Rapid point-of-care lateral flow assay to assess the neutralizing activity of plasma against SARS-CoV-2

A new paper describes the development and validation of a rapid test to measure the neutralizing activity of serum against COVID-19 using a drop of blood.

18 Dec 2020

High presence of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid in PCR test can predict future symptomatic disease

A new study by researchers at the Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden shows that testing for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid can help in containing the virus spread. Detecting the presence of high amounts of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid predicts future symptomatic disease, they found.

17 Dec 2020

SARS-CoV-2 surface proteins alter the expression of key chemokines and cytokines in cell lines

Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine, United States of America, recently demonstrated that the SARS-CoV-2 surface proteins alone triggered innate cell activity and the interferon signaling pathway.

17 Dec 2020

First enzyme-driven biocatalytic production of nucleic acid building blocks

Researchers from TU Graz and acib succeed in the first enzyme-driven biocatalytic synthesis of nucleic acid building blocks. This facilitates the development of antiviral agents and RNA-based therapeutics.

15 Dec 2020

Scientists empower wireless sensors with vision abilities to fight viruses

Current and former early-career scientists share their stories and tell how Europe has bet on them, making their high-risk research possible: from intelligent wireless sensors with vision abilities to RNA-based techniques to fight viruses, from the mathematical formulas of the MRI waves to optoceutics, the new technique that uses light to repair the heart after a stroke.

15 Dec 2020

World Health Organization issues notice for in vitro diagnostics users

Nucleic acid testing (NAT) technologies that use real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for detection of SARS-CoV-2.

14 Dec 2020

Research shows how epithelial cells ward off viruses

A team led by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich Researcher Veit Hornung has shown that a protein found in skin cells recognizes a specific nucleic acid intermediate that is formed during virus replication. This recognition process subsequently induces a potent inflammatory response.

11 Dec 2020

Rapid lateral flow immunoassay enables fluorescence detection of SARS-Cov-2 RNA

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for rapid and accurate nucleic acid detection at the point of care. To meet this need, scientists from the Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology have developed a novel amplification-free rapid SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid detection platform based on hybrid capture fluorescence immunoassay (HC-FIA).

11 Dec 2020

MEDS433 hinders SARS-CoV-2 replication

A paper that recently appeared in the preprint server bioRxiv* reports the powerful activity of a compound named MEDS433 against this virus.

10 Dec 2020

Paper-based electrochemical sensor can enable rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the world, testing remains a key strategy for tracking and containing the virus.

7 Dec 2020

Novel modular design approach to antibody nanocage generation

A new study shows the benefits of using computational design to create antibody nanocages that have the required orientation.

7 Dec 2020

Advances in Microplate Technology at SLAS 2021

Porvair Sciences will exhibit its latest specialist microplates and microplate instrumentation at the forthcoming SLAS 2021 Digital International Conference and Exhibition (January 25-27th 2021).

From Porvair Sciences Limited 3 Dec 2020

Chinese woman still sheds SARS-CoV-2 over four months post-infection

A new study by Chinese scientists explore an unusual case of extended viral shedding in a 68-year-old woman up to four months post-infection.

1 Dec 2020

Nucleic acid-hydrolyzing scFv 3D8 exhibits potent antiviral effects on SARS-CoV-2

3D8, a 27-kDa recombinant antibody fragment, was found in autoimmune-prone Murphy Roths Large mice. The single-chain variable fragment (scFv) has the nucleic acid hydrolyzing activity and is shown to degrade DNA or mRNA of viruses in infected cells.

30 Nov 2020

HIV and TB laboratory systems used to scale up COVID-19 testing in Africa

Many countries in resource-limited settings have high HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, hepatitis, and/or sexually transmitted infection (STI) burdens.

30 Nov 2020

Wuhan mass screening program finds 300 asymptomatic cases

A mass screening programme of more than 10 million Wuhan residents identified 300 asymptomatic cases, but none were infectious - according to a study involving the University of East Anglia.

30 Nov 2020

$Multiple fractionation approach for measuring cancer biomarker enrichment in exosomes$

Multiple fractionation approach for measuring cancer biomarker enrichment in exosomes

Postnova Analytics reports that researchers from the University of Utah have used a novel combination of Asymmetrical Flow Field-Flow Fractionation and Centrifugal Field-Flow Fractionation to measure cancer biomarker enrichment in exosomes.

From Postnova Analytics 27 Nov 2020