Whether the body has developed immunity to the new coronavirus, the results can be obtained within an hour after testing with this kit.
The kit was developed by Nanjing GenScript Biotech Corporation in collaboration with Duke University Medical School, National University of Singapore, and the Medical Diagnostic Development Centre under the Singapore Science and Technology Research Council.
It is the world's first new coronavirus-neutralizing antibody detection kit that eliminates the need to conduct experiments with real viruses or to test in a P3 lab.
When pathogenic microorganisms invade, the organism produces the corresponding antibodies. Invasion of cells by pathogenic microorganisms requires reliance on specific molecules expressed by the pathogen itself to bind to receptors on the cell in order to infect the cell and proliferate further.
Neutralizing antibodies are certain antibodies produced by B lymphocytes that bind to antigens on the surface of the pathogenic microorganism, thereby preventing that pathogenic microorganism from adhering to target cell receptors and preventing invasion of cells.
Currently, neutralization experiments based on novel coronaviruses require live viruses, cells, and skilled operators.
The laboratory procedures are complex, the sensitivity of the experiment is low, and it takes 2-3 days to produce the results.
In contrast, this kit allows for rapid testing in most studies or clinical laboratories within an hour, and also allows for high throughput and fully automated testing.
"The kits developed by our team can be used for contact tracking, finding intermediate hosts, population immunization, protective immunization effectiveness duration, and various candidate vaccine efficacy assessments." Wang Linfa, principal investigator of the kit and director of the National University of Singapore's Emerging Infectious Diseases Focused Research Program, said.
It requires no biosafety precautions and can be easily used by the global community, including many developing countries, Wang Linfa said.
"This serological detection system is uniquely innovative, with many advantages including high sensitivity, specificity and applicability to all antibody subtypes." Dr. Zhu Li, chief strategy officer of Kingsley, told reporters that the test results could help local governments guide the resumption of production.
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