COVID Testing
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Basics
- Until a Treatment and/or Vaccine is developed for COVID-19, the main methods of prevention and controll will be Testing for Infection of Suspected Cases, and Pandemic Control Measures
- This page explores failed tests, current tests, and potential/in development/near future tests, and then how OSE can contribute to current efforts
Antibody Test
- Types of antibody tests: neutralization, IFA, ELISA, Western blot tests - [1]
- How to produce antibodies - [2]. "A single antibody (monoclonal antibody) can be stably produced if a single B cell producing the antibody is isolated and cultured indefinitely."
- Bangladesh approves $3 test - [3]
- Oxford $25 test - [4]. See Oxford Test Notes.
- ELIZA test - mentioned in [5]
PCR
- Polymerase Chain Reaction -
- Need a marker for $50, which can do 1000 tests
- Need a lab
- Nobel Prize of 1985 for PCR
- Good for gene synthesis -
- Virus has been sequenced -
- Primers - to be sequenced -
- 10k - base pairs
- What primer to select? There are regions of the genome that
- Influenza - virus. It's quite mutable
- Look at the sequence - it's random. Take a specific region.
- Unique to COVID - take a gene sequence.
- $100- for 100 or so tests
- PAPR
Government Response Controversy
China
- Some coverups caused issue
- Also unpreparedness etc (We may be able to help along with other NGO's etc if we can reach required standards, and network with the right groups Doctors Without Borders ?
Italy
USA
- Potential Delayed Response due to funding cuts and non-replaced resignation based vacancys in the cdc during the current administration
- USA has very little testing, and as such, confirmed cases are underreported (Granted part of this may be to prevent panic, and thus should perhaps be overlooked, unless it is due to CLEAR corruption, also data must be confirmed, ...)
- Also the original kits DID NOT WORK and were thus recalled
- Also some conflicting information by public officials ("it will be over soon" , "Quick Vaccine Development" , Cutting "Red Tape" Which Isn't Done in the medical feild (FDA Approved, don't want a drug that has some nasty side effect 2-3 years after it cures something, etc)
- Some Articles on the Subject
- An Article by "The Verge" on the USA's Response Issues
- A VOX Article on Various "Unknowns"
- A Politifact Article on the USA's Possible Failures in Prevention/CDC Response
See Also
- COVID-19
- First COVID-19 Outbreak Response Caused Medical Supply Shortages
- Pandemic Control Measures
- The "LAB" "Sanitation" and "Medical" Construction Sets essentially any related OSE Designs (PCR Machines etc)
Useful Links
- Serum tests (antibody tests) can detect who HAD COVID - by presence of antibodies. RT-PCR detects only who currently HAS COVID. [6]
- Description of RT-PCR from Wired. Also mentions Crispr tech being used for quicker tests. - [7]
- COVID genomes - [8]
- COVID Test Kits
- 30 minute test - [9]. The tests consist of strips of paper that are coated with antibodies that bind to a specific viral protein. Isolate antibodies from patients. Sequence them, then make them synthetically. Antibody is a tag that attaches to protein. You detect the virus antibody - such as ELIZA Assay. Colorimetric assay. Suppose you want to detect virus. Take a sample. Add it to a multiwell dish. Coat dish with sample, add anitbody that would attach to it if there is one. Wash everything else, and and detect the antibody that attached. IGG type secondary antibody - which has a fluorescent tag. Which you can detect with a biochemical reaction. They don't have the sequence of the antibody yet. They are produced by T-Cells. Culture the cells, isolate antibodies from them. This difficulty was demonstrated with AIDS. It happens 3-4 months. Need 100 ml of blood sample. If it works well, you may succeed in getting the cells that produce antibodies. You expose them to virus, and they produce antibodies. Need to replicate T-Cells. It's not trivial. Requirements for cell to grow are finicky.
- PCR vs antibody testing - Why antibody testing will matter. And the fragility of global supply chains being in China. [10]
- Immunoassay - [11] - lateral flow automated immunoassay - [12]