Researchers at the Korea Basic Science Institute, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, and collaborators have published an article on the development of graphene-based test for SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, from nasopharyngeal swabs. They have determined it can detect SARS-CoV-2 in clinical samples at a concentration of 242 copies per mL. and greater, a significant achievement.
Current diagnostic tests for COVID-19 utilize RT-PCR, amplifying the SARS-CoV-2 RNA from patient samples so tiny amounts of virus can be detected. It takes at least 3 hours, including methods for RNA preparation. The researchers who initiated this new study wanted to develop a faster test directly from patient swabs, without sample preparation steps.
Researchers at the Korea Basic Science Institute, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, and collaborators have published an article on the development of graphene-based test for SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, from nasopharyngeal swabs. They have determined it can detect SARS-CoV-2 in clinical samples at a concentration of 242 copies per ml and greater, a significant achievement.
COVID 19 STRUCTURE
nCOV Genme is 30 kb in size, it contains 29891 nucleotides encoding for 9860 proteins.
COVID-19 is a spherical or pleomorphic enveloped particles containing single-stranded (positive-sense) RNA associated with a nucleoprotein within a/ capsid comprised of matrix protein. The envelope bears club-shaped glycoprotein projections.
The virus enters through nose, ears, mouth, eye and it binds to ACE 2 receptors, on lungs, liver, kidney, and GIT. The receptor-binding domain of s protein binds to ACE2 after primed by serine proteases. The virus attaches to the receptor and then is internalized into the host cell, releases RNA, and virions (viral particles) cause the disease. These virions later burst out and bring a dysregulation to the immunomodulatory system cytokine storm
The essential role of clinical laboratories in this pandemic extends beyond the etiological diagnosis of COVID-19.
Biochemical monitoring of COVID-19 patients through in vitro diagnostic testing is critical for assessing disease severity and progression as well as monitoring therapeutic intervention.
Several common in vitro diagnostic tests have been implicated in unfavorable COVID-19 progression, potentially providing important prognostic information.
A recommended test list based on current literature is included below along with the major laboratory abnormalities associated with adult COVID-19 patients and their potential clinical indications (1-17).
In addition to more common laboratory tests, new evidence suggests that patients with severe COVID-19 could be at risk for cytokine storm syndrome.
Roughly 1.7 million Americans develop sepsis each year, and nearly 270,000 die as a result. The condition occurs when the body launches an extreme response to infection, triggering a cascade of changes that quickly can damage multiple organs, resulting in organ failure and, in many cases, death.
“Mortality from sepsis increases as much as 8% for every hour that treatment is delayed,” Ajay Shah, Cytovale’s co-founder, and CEO told BioWorld, adding that as many as 80% of sepsis deaths could be prevented with early detection and treatment.
Cytovale’s system is designed to measure immune cell activity associated with the dysregulated host response in sepsis. “In less than 10 minutes, each patient’s unique signature is compared to established profiles of robustly constructed multidimensional disease signatures, reduced by machine learning techniques, to determine a diagnostic score, reportable to the clinician within minutes,” Shah explained.
Current diagnostic tests for COVID-19 utilize RT-PCR, amplifying the SARS-CoV-2 RNA from patient samples so tiny amounts of virus can be detected. It takes at least 3 hours, including methods for RNA preparation. The researchers who initiated this new study wanted to develop a faster test directly from patient swabs, without sample preparation steps.
