New Coronavirus Test Works 10 Times Faster

A new testing method for COVID-19 can confirm the presence of the virus 4-10 times faster than the current method of extracting ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules from a patient’s swab sample to see whether they contain viral RNA. In addition to being equally accurate, the new test does not use specially produced test kits or reagents needed for extracting RNA and instead uses materials commonly found in diagnostic labs, thus making it significantly cheaper and reducing dependence on imported testing materials.

The new testing method for COVID-19 has been developed by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Jerusalem, Israel). The COVID-19 testing kits currently in use extract RNA molecules from a patient's sample to determine if they have viral RNA within them to confirm the presence of the coronavirus. However, these test kits require testing materials, such as complex reagents to extract the RNA for analysis, which are in short supply globally, thus slowing down the rate of testing and increasing the rate of infection.

The Hebrew University researchers have devised a new COVID-19 testing method using a homemade solution that is more easily available and cheaper than the kits. Instead of complex reagents, their test uses tiny magnetic beads to extract RNA for analysis and can be performed both robotically as well as manually. The beads are also recyclable and can be reused to perform future tests. The method was tested on hundreds of samples and all the tests came out identical to the results obtained using the current test kits. The bead method extracted RNA is also ready for analysis four to 10 times more quickly than most other methods.

The researchers believe if their COVID-19 testing method can help labs significantly eliminate the testing bottleneck by reducing their dependence on external factors. The researchers are now developing a method based on genomic sequencing tools that will allow tens of thousands of samples to be tested simultaneously instead of the current rate of thousands of tests.

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The Hebrew University of Jerusalem