Australian research team uses blood samples to detect SARS-CoV-2 in 20 minutes

Editor : Meng Xiangjun

Publisher : China News Network

Ref : http://www.chinanews.com/gj/2020/07-18/9241607.shtml

Translation, editing : Gan Yung Chyan

                                  / KUCINTA SETIA

On 18 July 2020, according to foreign media reports, recently, Australian researchers said that they have developed a method that uses blood samples to detect whether they are infected with SARS-CoV-2 (covi, in short) within 20 minutes. They called it a breakthrough of "the world's first".

Melbourne Monash University researchers published this research result in the ACS Sensors journal issued on 17 July. They said that this new test not only detects whether a person is currently infected with covi, but also whether he has contracted covid before.

On 8 July, local time, in Melbourne, Australia, in response to the covid outbreak, staff attended a briefing outside the public residential building.

The report states, "This test can be used to quickly identify cases and contacts in order to prevent the spread of the virus, and it can be used for large-scale testing in the long run to confirm the level of infection across the community."

The Department of Chemical Engineering of Monash University, the Institute of Bioresources Processing Australia (BioPRIA) and the ARC Fusion Bio-Nano Science and Technology Center of Excellence jointly conducted the research.

Researchers can use only 25 microliters of plasma extracted from a blood sample to identify whether a case has been infected with covi because a positive case will cause red blood cells to accumulate, which is easy to identify with the naked eye.

The currently commonly used nasopharyngeal swab test can only confirm whether the patient is currently infected with covi but the red blood cell aggregation test or analysis to detect the presence and content of a certain substance in the blood can also be used to determine whether a person has recently been infected with covi.

According to reports, with this new detection method, hundreds of samples can be tested per hour.

Researchers also hope to use this method to detect antibodies in patient samples for the development of covi vaccines.

This scientific research team has applied for a patent for this new detection method, and is seeking commercial and government support to mass-produce the kit.