A team of researchers from California University together with Mammoth Biosciences managed to create a new detection system for COVID-19 called Detectr. This test is a faster and cheaper alternative to the traditional diagnostics methods using PCR.

According to the study, published in Nature Biotechnology, Detectr is easy-to-implement, accurate and allows to get the test results in around 40 minutes. Scientists developed CRISPR–Cas12-based lateral flow assay for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 from respiratory swab RNA extracts. This method will also allow to do tests without leaving the house.

CRISPR is a gene-editing software, based on the bacterial immune system, mainly used for gene manipulations, for example, suppressing certain genes. Cas12 is a compact and efficient enzyme that creates staggered cuts in DNA.

While tests made by US health department usually focus on detecting COVID-19 based on gene N, and detection systems by WHO.int are focusing on gene E, Detectr is able to go through both, making the analyzis more accurate.

The patient sample being put into Detectr that can detect and mark viral signatures. That causes the fluorescent molecule to change its color, signaling about the viral RNA being present.

This method is using contrived reference samples and clinical samples from patients in the United States, including 36 patients with COVID-19 infection and 42 patients with other viral respiratory infections.

Detectr mechanism is based on PCR combined with RT-LAMP (Reverse Transcription Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification), allowing Cas12 to detect certain sequences of Sars-Cov-2.

This system is still improvable, but for something that was made in an extremely short amount of time (around 2 weeks) it is still very impressive. According to scientists, this system is slightly less sensitive than PCR analysis.

Researchers are also planning to create a portable test device using Detectr, so it can be me used everywhere. The production will start if the system will get approved by FDA.