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Researchers from the Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine of the Siberian Section of the Russian Academy of Sciences have found a way to quickly determine the presence of the COVID-19 coronavirus in analyzes during testing.
Denis Antropov, a young researcher at the Genome Editing Laboratory of the ICBFM SB RAS, said that analysis using the new method uses the same methods as PCR tests, which are familiar to Russians. Having received a high concentration of the virus RNA fragment, Novosibirsk biochemists use a technology based on the Cas13a protein, which allows certain RNA fragments to be quickly recognized and broken down.
The reaction contains a specially selected third-party RNA labeled with an organic compound – a fluorophore. When it divides, that very specific signal appears: the tube containing the viral RNA begins to glow. We are now also working on changing the color of the test tube, ” Antropov told kp.ru.
According to the Siberian researchers, this long-term method will drastically reduce test times for doctors and waiting for test results – for patients who sometimes have to wait for coronavirus data, several days.
To get the result, it takes less than an hour, and with conventional PCR – 1.5 – 3 hours. That is, it takes half the time, – added Denis Antropov.
So far, ICBFM SB RAS biochemists have no plans to immediately promote their development for use in hospitals, ensuring they are developing “for the future” methods. According to Antropov, in the future, the technology of “light” analyzes can be used for self-diagnosis at home.
On November 12, the director of the St. Petersburg Epidemiology and Microbiology Research Institute named after Pasteur, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Areg Totolyan, said that the population’s immunity to the pathogen of COVID-19 coronavirus infection SARS-CoV-2 virus is gradually increasing and in different regions of Russia it ranges from 5.1% to 65.3%.
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