Nucleic acid detection of the new crown virus is mainly used in "polymerase chain reaction" (PCR) technology, and the detection time often takes 2 to 24 hours. The research team of Fudan University has developed a new type of crown detection equipment and methods, which can produce nucleic acid test results within 5 minutes, and the accuracy rate has been greatly improved.
On February 8, Beijing time, the research team led by Liu Yunxi and Wei Dacheng of Fudan University published the results of this study in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering in the field of bioengineering, which developed a supersensitive biosensor based on microelectromechanical systems and integrated this sensor into a portable device. Analysis of the genetic material in the swab by microelectronics technology can detect the RNA of the virus in 0.1 to 4 minutes.
This new method is fast, sensitive and simple to operate, not only has no false negative results, but also is much faster than the speed of traditional nucleic acid detection.
The researchers found that the current common "polymerase chain reaction" (PCR) detection method is not effective at extremely low virus concentrations, while the ultra-sensitive biosensors of this microelectromechanical system can still detect the virus.
The researchers say that in the future, the new device is easy to carry and can be adapted to a variety of occasions and situations, including airports, clinics, and even at home. (Lu Yang)