Nucleic Acid News and Research

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Low-cost, portable detector takes about 30 minutes to identify pathogens

Most viral test kits rely on labor- and time-intensive laboratory preparation and analysis techniques; for example, tests for the novel coronavirus can take days to detect the virus from nasal swabs.

23 Apr 2020

Novel method may enable decentralized facilities to deliver faster COVID-19 test services

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in over 2.5 million confirmed cases worldwide and nearly over 170,000 deaths as of April 21 according to the World Health Organization.

23 Apr 2020

Antibody detection for COVID-19 - promise and risks

Recently, several research groups emphasized how the pervasive screening for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies may prove pivotal in determining infection seroprevalence in a given population defining previous exposure, screening health care workers, but also identifying highly reactive individuals that may act as donors for the therapeutic use of their convalescent serum.

20 Apr 2020

Sense accelerates launch of new SARS-CoV-2 disposable test

Sense Biodetection Limited has today announced an accelerated programme to launch the world’s first instrument-free, point-of-care molecular diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.

17 Apr 2020

Coronavirus able to survive near boiling point of water, study shows

A startling paper by a team of French scientists published in the preprint journal bioRxiv in April 2020 suggests that the novel coronavirus is capable of surviving at high temperatures. This could mean that laboratory technicians handling the virus are at danger of infection.

15 Apr 2020

Researchers develop a faster, more accurate COVID-19 test

Millions of people have been tested for the novel coronavirus, most using a kit that relies on the polymerase chain reaction.

15 Apr 2020

CRISPR may help in kidney-transplants by detecting viruses

An exciting new study published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering in April 2020 reports excellent results with a new test for two common viruses that infect kidney transplant patients. The levels of these viruses shoot up during the acute phase of rejection.

13 Apr 2020

Chinese newborns experienced mild form of COVID-19

A new paper published by Dr. Zhi-Jiang Zhang and colleagues from Wuhan University in the European Respiratory Journal in April 2020 reports that COVID-19 apparently left little impact on newborns born to infected mothers at the height of the epidemic.

9 Apr 2020

LGC launches new proficiency testing program for SARS-CoV-2 detection

LGC today launched a Proficiency Testing service for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID 19) by nucleic acid amplification testing, one of the first global schemes for COVID-19.

From ATCC 9 Apr 2020

UC San Diego Health expands COVID-19 testing capacity

From the beginning, the ability of front line clinicians to test patients for COVID-19 -- to determine whether a person is infected with the disease-causing novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 -- has been part and parcel of the pandemic.

6 Apr 2020

Research suggests an avenue to treat, prevent genetic disorders in the womb

New research led by hearing scientists at Oregon Health & Science University suggests an avenue to treat and prevent intractable genetic disorders before birth.

6 Apr 2020

Penn State engineer developing point-of-care testing device to diagnose COVID-19

A point-of-care testing device that may help diagnose the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is under development by Weihua Guan, assistant professor of electrical engineering in Penn State's College of Engineering.

2 Apr 2020

Rutgers' RUCDR Infinite Biologics launches genetic test for novel coronavirus

Rutgers' RUCDR Infinite Biologics has launched a test for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and is using its automation experience and infrastructure to test as many as tens of thousands of samples daily.

1 Apr 2020

Thermo Fisher announces availability of AcroMetrix Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) RNA Control

Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, today announced the availability of the Thermo Scientific AcroMetrix Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) RNA Control, its latest quality control product to monitor and validate COVID-19 molecular diagnostic tests.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 1 Apr 2020

Pancreatitis drug Nafamostat shows promise for coronavirus

With the increasing number of infections across the globe, scientists have resorted to studying existing drugs in the hope of discovering a cure for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). A team of researchers has found that an existing drug, Nafamostat or Fusan, a drug used to treat acute pancreatitis, may effectively block the process used by the novel coronavirus to spread and cause illness.

1 Apr 2020

World's only online image-based tool to improve COVID-19 diagnosis launched

The world's only online image-based COVID-19 diagnosis improvement tool for healthcare workers is launched today by University of Sydney spinoff DetectED-X, drawing on its global experience and outcomes in breast cancer detection and patient cases from the coronavirus pandemic.

30 Mar 2020

Crumpled graphene can be used to make ultra-sensitive cancer DNA detector

Crumpled graphene can enhance graphene-based biosensors, increasing sensitivity to DNA for accurate detection of cancer.

24 Mar 2020

Crumpled grapheme can be more sensitive in detecting DNA cancer markers

Graphene-based biosensors could usher in an era of liquid biopsy, detecting DNA cancer markers circulating in a patient's blood or serum. But current designs need a lot of DNA.

24 Mar 2020

GlobalData: Thermo Fisher to be major player in COVID-19 diagnostic tests following acquisition of Qiagen

Thermo Fisher Scientific is expected to produce millions of coronavirus (COVID-19) diagnostic tests following the acquisition of Qiagen for an approximate transaction value of US$11.5bn per share, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 20 Mar 2020

High-throughput screening of AAV vector capsid libraries reveals unexpected insights

Researchers have used high-throughput screening of adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector capsid libraries to maximize the likelihood of obtaining AAV variants with desired properties.

18 Mar 2020