Nat Biomed Engin: Breakthrough! Chinese scientists have developed a new technology to detect SARS-CoV-2 infections without PCR amplification and can be detected in less than an hour!

December 14, 2020 // -- The pandemic of COVID-19 highlights the need for fast and accurate nucleic acid testing for SARS-CoV-2, a study published recently in the international journal Nature Biomedical Engineering entitled "Rapid lateral flow flow for the fluorescence detection" In the sars-CoV-2 RNA study, scientists from the Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other institutions developed a new non-amplified SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid detection platform based on hybrid capture fluorescence immunoassay technology.
Photo Source: SIBET's use of monoclonal antibody S9.6 is a prominent feature of the technology's development process, which helps identify the hybrid double strands of DNA-RNA and transforms nucleic acid detection into immunofluorescence on a simple lateral flow test strip (Lateral flow dipstick, LFD).
the entire testing process includes two steps, hybridization and immunofluorescence analysis, which can be completed within an hour of the SARS-CoV-2 test.
Throughout the test, the researchers used optimized DNA probes to target conservative open reading box 1ab, envelope proteins, and nuclear shell areas from the SARS-CoV-2 virus genome in clinical pharynx samples.
compared to the current commonly used qPCR technology, this new technology can detect a limit of 500 copies / ml, in addition, there is no SARS-CoV-2 probe and 55 common pathogens between the obvious cross-reaction phenomenon.
performance of HC-FIA testing reagents is not disturbed by hemoglobin, mucosal proteins, or a variety of drugs that may be present in clinical samples, and this new detection technology and its test kit are also suitable for the detection of other viral RNA.
the HC-FIA test described by the researchers in the paper was supported by a multi-hospital randomized double-blind trial covering 734 samples.
's current research not only demonstrates the results of proof-of-concept, but also helps develop commercial kits for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infections, which have now been approved by the National Pharmaceutical Products Administration and have received CE marks.
researchers say the new test kit is not highly demanding on equipment and professionals, and that it can efficiently screen out SARS-CoV-2 infection patients and play the role of a "box lab", providing hospital outpatients, emergency departments, customs and primary disease control methods and means for on-site testing. 'We believe that this HC-FIA test can effectively reduce the occurrence of community-borne and imported cases of COVID-19, especially in developing countries, and also provide a reliable technical guarantee to effectively contain the outbreak,' said Wang Daming, a researcher at
.
() Original source: Wang, D., He, S., Wang, X. et al. Rapid lateral flow immunoassay for the fluorescence detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Nat Biomed Eng 4, 1150–1158 (2020). doi:10.1038/s41551-020-00655-z。