A device detects the virus that causes COVID-19 in ambient air within 2–3 min, and has been successfully tested at two universities in the US.
Device was developed by the company Smiths Detection, and has a sensitivity equivalent to PCR testing.
The system uses a technology called CANARY developed by researchers at MIT. Genetically engineered immune cells bind to one specific target such as a toxin or pathogen. When they do so, they begin to emit light.
When CANARY technology was originally developed, [the MIT researchers] basically cloned out the same genes that jellyfish use to be bioluminescent.
Smiths Detection developed their BioFlash Biological Identifier over 10 years ago to detect toxins such as ricin and pathogens like the anthrax bacterium. The company realized that, if the BioFlash could detect SARS-CoV-2, it could defend not just against malicious threats but against unintentional ones posed by infected individuals too. They had to identify antibodies that would bind specifically to SARS-CoV-2, and be resistant to any mutations that might happen and lead to false negatives.
As far as known, there is yet no solution for on-site detection of SARS-CoV-2 in air (or aerosols) commercially available, so this Smiths device could become the first detector.
A device detects the virus that causes COVID-19 in ambient air within 2–3 min, and has been successfully tested at two universities in the US.
Device was developed by the company Smiths Detection, and has a sensitivity equivalent to PCR testing.
The system uses a technology called CANARY developed by researchers at MIT. Genetically engineered immune cells bind to one specific target such as a toxin or pathogen. When they do so, they begin to emit light.
When CANARY technology was originally developed, [the MIT researchers] basically cloned out the same genes that jellyfish use to be bioluminescent.
Smiths Detection developed their BioFlash Biological Identifier over 10 years ago to detect toxins such as ricin and pathogens like the anthrax bacterium. The company realized that, if the BioFlash could detect SARS-CoV-2, it could defend not just against malicious threats but against unintentional ones posed by infected individuals too. They had to identify antibodies that would bind specifically to SARS-CoV-2, and be resistant to any mutations that might happen and lead to false negatives.
As far as known, there is yet no solution for on-site detection of SARS-CoV-2 in air (or aerosols) commercially available, so this Smiths device could become the first detector.
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