Jan 13, 2022
CoV Guard research group launched
The European Union and the Free State of Saxony granted the young researcher group CoV Guard, which aims to develop a rapid PCR test for Corona and other pathogens.
The nationwide diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infections proved to be one of the most important and effective measures in the current pandemic. It can be used to rapidly identify hotspots of infection, elucidate chains of infection, accurately predict regional and nationwide infection incidence, and sustainably reduce infection dynamics. By far the most tests are performed with rapid antigen tests. These can be performed at any time due to their simple test procedure and sufficient availability, but have only a low reliability (40-50% of the tests are false negative or positive). PCR tests allow a much more reliable diagnosis, higher sensitivity and enable the detection of new mutations. But they can be performed in far fewer numbers than the simple rapid antigen tests. They require significantly more testing effort, skilled personnel, and expensive automated analyzers and specialty chemicals, which limit testing options and currently lead to critical testing bottlenecks. With the PCR rapid tests, CoV Guard scientists aim to develop a new generation of tests that combine the simplicity and good availability of rapid tests with the high sensitivity and reliability typical of PCR. For future waves and pandemics, significantly more efficient tests could thus be available for nationwide diagnosis. The Institute of Semiconductor and Microsystems Technology, the Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine and the Institute of Microbiology and Virology of the TU Dresden and the University Hospital Dresden are involved in the research.