Northwestern University biologists just landed a federal grant to continue development of a simple coronavirus test.
The university announced Monday that it received funding from the National Science Foundation to develop an easy-to-use, quick-screen tech device that can test for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
The $200,000 grant was issued on Friday to the college from the foundation, which called for proposals that can address the spread of COVID-19.
The device is similar to a pregnancy test in that it only requires one human sample, and can provide an easy-to-read negative or positive result. Because of the device’s simple format, just about anyone could use it to test themselves at home without the help of a healthcare professional. It only requires a nasal swab or saliva sample, and can also test for the presence of the virus on surfaces and in water.
Northwestern’s device delivers results by combining the gene-editing tool CRISPR, custom genetic circuits and cell-free synthetic biology.
Northwestern said the device takes less than an hour to provide a result and costs less than $1.00 to make. The college said it hopes the device could provide large-scale testing that would help bring an end to stay-at-home orders. The researchers aim to have the test ready for the coronavirus’ predicted resurgence this fall.
The project is being led by Northwestern Center for Synthetic Biology members Julius Lucks, Michael Jewett, Joshua Leonard and Niall Mangan.
“The current COVID-19 pandemic highlights the limitations of laboratory-based testing,” said Lucks, the principal investigator on the project, in a statement. “Those tests have not scaled with the sudden and dramatic increase of needed volume. They require too much equipment, time, expertise and infrastructure, which have resulted in major logistical challenges and, ultimately, inadequate testing. It’s become clear that we need to dramatically increase the scale of testing to safely restart the economy, to provide critical information if the virus resurges and to provide monitoring to prevent this in the future.”
