This week Simon and Rick got together to talk through the latest technologies, uses and performance of COVID-19 testing. We think it’s a really useful listen to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the various tests and thoughts on where we go next.
We cover a lot of ground, and if you want to know more you can follow the links below.
FALCON/CONDOR
The FALCON/CONDOR studies led by Rick are the main research studies for assessing COVID-19 tests in the UK.
On clinicaltrials.gov – Facilitating AcceLerated Clinical Validation Of Novel Diagnostics for COVID-19 (FALCON-C19) (FALCON-C19) https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04408170
PCR Tests
These are polymerase chain reaction tests. You may remember them from med/clinical school. The method amplifies small fragments of DNA in order to make them detectable. You can reminder yourself of the details here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymerase_chain_reaction
LAMP testing
LAMP stands for Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification is a single tube technique that is easier than PCR and potentially quicker. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loop-mediated_isothermal_amplification
DNA Nudge
This is commercial product that uses a rapid PCR technique. We talk about this one as it is being used in Virchester https://www.dnanudge.com/en/COVID-Nudge
Lateral flow tests
These are now used for staff testing in the NHS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateral_flow_test
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