A device smaller than two stacked decks of cards can reliably detect and discriminate between SARS-CoV-2 variants in spit in less than an hour with results that glow.
Countries outside the US and Europe that are already used to long wait times for laboratory supplies are facing greater research disruptions than ever during the pandemic.
Researchers are adapting CRISPR, synthetic biology, and other creative approaches to detect SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acids outside of the lab or doctors’ offices, in the hopes of making diagnostics more affordable and accessible.
Jaclyn Winter and Shiladitya DasSarma will discuss how they harness the unique biology of extremophiles for the discovery and development of new therapeutics.
New approaches to diagnosing bacterial infections may one day allow the identification of pathogens and their antibiotic susceptibility in a matter of hours or minutes.