Category Archives: Biological Sciences

A ‘Viral’ Testing Kit: ID Now COVID-19

Posted on March 8, 2021 by | Leave a comment

THE PROBLEM 

Every single one of us can help control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether we’re humming “Happy Birthday” twice every time we wash our hands, or facetiming our friends instead of meeting up, we can all adopt changes that will help us get back to our normal lives sooner. Another thing we can do is to get tested, should we suspect COVID-19 infection.

When to get tested for COVID-19
Credit: BC Centre for Disease Control, www.bccdc.ca

Getting tested is easier said than done. It’s an inconvenient drive-in, followed by a period of self-isolation until results come back, which can take up to four days.

Besides just being tedious, this lengthy processing time has other concerns. A study found that patients infected with COVID-19 are most infectious within the first five days of initial symptoms. If results aren’t coming back soon after testing, they become less effective at stopping the virus right in its tracks. 

THE SOLUTION

This is where Abbott Laboratories steps up! Having already developed reliable testing tools for influenzas A&B, strep A, and respiratory syncytial virus, it was only a matter of time before COVID-19 testing apparatuses were developed. In early 2020, Abbott developed the ID Now COVID-19 Rapid Nucleic Acid Amplification Test, and launched for distribution in the US after receiving approval for emergency use from the FDA that year in March. Shortly after, Health Canada provided approval of use in October 2020.

NO IMAGEAbbott’s ID Now COVID-19 Test
Credit: abbot.com

This Rapid Nucleic Acid Amplification Test takes nasal swabs from individuals, and amplifies the viral ribonucleic acid (essentially a COVID-19 nametag) hundreds of millions of times until it’s detectable by their system. What’s more, this impressive amplification process is done is a matter of minutes, and test results are returned within 13 minutes – hence the term rapid! The entire process is summarized in this short video from Abbott.

How ID Now COVID-19 Works
Credit: Abbott, www.youtube.com

It’s normal to have some doubt when the current gold standard testing protocol in Canada (RT-PCR) takes 6–8 hours.

Abbot’s clinical trial on 1003 subjects reported a similar accuracy using their ID Now machine compared to current lab PCR testing. This study was done in a controlled clinical setting, so these results are not representative of the real world.

Dr. Gary Procop, a director of virology at the Cleveland Clinic, found that ID Now missed up to 15% of COVID-19 cases in infected patients, that other tests were able to catch! He states that “just because we need something put out emergently, doesn’t mean we should put out something that doesn’t work appropriately.” In a response, the FDA stated that they will continue to track these tests and take action if necessary. Check out more of the interview below.

Questions About Accuracy of Coronavirus Tests
Credit: CNN, www.cnn.com

This is Abbott’s response to the ‘rapidly’ changing world. They have provided frontline workers with rapid testing, but whether or not they can combat COVID-19 as quickly as their tests do remains a question.

~William Lee

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Baby Sharks Face a Gloomy Future

Posted on March 6, 2021 by | 1 comment

Sharks are considered the lions of the sea, but due to climate change they are losing their glory. With global warming causing the rise of ocean temperatures, one particularly tough and beautiful species, the epaulette shark, sometimes referred to as the walking shark, may be heading towards disaster.

An Epaulette Shark

An Epaulette Shark: Source: flickr.com/Richard Ling

The epaulette shark is typically 70 – 90 cm in length and has dark spots running up and down its slender body. This shark notably has a large black circle outlined in white on each of its sides. It lives in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and finds its food in shallow puddles between the coral. This shallow environment is dangerous; leaving most fish stranded out of the water, left to die under the hot sun. This amazing animal is not so easily defeated and is able to conserve its breath and march back towards the sea. The impressive survival mechanisms of the epaulette shark are shown and described in the video below created by PBS in 2017.

Video Source: Nature on PBS| Youtube

The epaulette shark has proven itself to be resilient in low oxygen environments. Previous experiments even found that their eggs and newborns are tolerant to ocean acidification. Regardless of this resilience, rising temperatures still pose a serious threat, especially to its offspring.

A new study carried out by Ph.D. candidate Carolyn Wheeler on the eggs of epaulette sharks, showed that increasing ocean temperatures significantly affect the development of its young. The researchers analyzed the growth of epaulette shark embryos until they hatched, at temperatures of 27°C, 29°C, and 31°C . It was found that the embryos grew faster at the higher temperatures, as in the warmer water the sharks tended to consume their yolk-sacks quicker, which is their only source of food before they hatch. This in turn caused them to hatch sooner, and due to the reduced time in their embryos, they were born smaller and lacking in energy. The newborns which hatched at higher temperatures struggled to survive and needed to eat significantly sooner after birth compared to those at 27°C. Other studies have additionally observed, that at 32°C the likelihood of epaulette shark eggs hatching becomes very low.

Epaulette Shark Embryo: Source: flickr.com/CLF

The average temperature of the Great Barrier Reef is currently at 28°C during the period of embryo development in the wild, but with climate models predicting that average temperatures in this region will rise to 32°C by the middle or end of the century these animals are in trouble. As we explored earlier, epaulette sharks are known to be tolerant to acidic conditions and are more resilient than any other shark to low oxygen environments.

Since the increasing temperatures will likely have a detrimental impact on the epaulette shark – which is considered a tough and resilient species – we can only imagine the negative impacts it will have on other more vulnerable wildlife.

– Adam Soliman

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Itching Towards a Solution to Eczema’s Problem

Posted on March 1, 2021 by | Leave a comment

For those who are living with atopic dermatitis, commonly known as eczema, it’s not always fun.

Imagine that one minute you’re going on about your day, then suddenly your skin flares into an itchy, dry and blistering rash. The skin irritation becomes agonizing as soon as you start to feel your skin throb and burn, almost as if a million fire ants endlessly crawl all over your skin.

According to the Canadian Dermatology Association, this is what 17 percent of Canadians deal with throughout their lives. 

Source: flickr.com

The video below summarizes on eczema and provides further detail on its condition:

Source: Medical Centric (Youtube)

Recent Research

A recent study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology examined the relationship between an enzyme (a protein that increases metabolic reaction rates) known as Granzyme B and the symptoms associated with eczema. According to Dr. David Granville, UBC’s Faculty of Medicine professor and researcher, increased Granzyme B secretion causes the enzymes to “eat away” cell-adhesion proteins that function in holding skin cells together. As a result, the skin barrier is weakened which increases skin sensitivity, thereby introducing symptoms like skin inflammation, dryness and itchiness. 

So what would happen if these enzyme levels were decreased?

Granville and his team discovered that by lowering Granzyme B secretion levels with inhibitors, skin cell layers were more likely to remain intact as fewer cell-adhesion proteins were eaten by these enzymes. Symptoms such as inflammation and lesion growth were shown to be greatly reduced compared to such increasing symptoms associated with high Granzyme B secretion levels. As these observed symptoms contribute to dryness and itchiness, these findings ultimately introduces a newer approach towards treating eczema.

A Step Closer to Newer Treatments

How can these findings be implemented into future treatments for individuals who have eczema?

Former UBC postdoctoral fellow and lead author of the study Dr. Chris Turner, suggests that with further research and clinical trials, these findings can potentially introduce topical creams or lotions that can inhibit Granzyme B levels in the future, ultimately reducing symptoms of itchiness and inflammation on affected skin. This potentially brings in treatments that avoid damaging the skin such as corticosteroid creams – a common topical steroid cream applied on the skin to reduce eczema symptoms.

“Corticosteroid creams are a common treatment for individuals with AD who experience more severe itching and rashes. However, these can thin the skin when used over a prolonged period of time, which can make skin more prone to damage and infection.”  VCH Research Institute, 2020.

Source: med.ubc.ca

As further research opens up more information about eczema and the enzyme that aggravates its symptoms, hopefully it’ll help researchers get closer towards developing potential treatments. Perhaps one day a Granzyme B-inhibiting cream will become available in the market.

After all, no one likes to have itchy, dry skin.

– Tina Huynh

Reference:
Turner, Christopher T., et al. “Granzyme B Contributes to barrier dysfunction in oxazolone-induced skin inflammation through E-Cadherin and FLG cleavage.” Journal of Investigative Dermatology 141.1 (2021): 36-47.

 

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Protein Folding: Solved

Posted on February 26, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Just as the turmoil of 2020 was coming to a wrap, a scientific breakthrough came about. On November 30th AlphaFold, coming out of Google’s DeepMind, claimed to have solved the protein folding problem using artificial intelligence.

The Problem

From making our DNA to getting rid of waste, proteins are like small machines that perform the majority of work done in cells. In fact, within our bodies there are an estimated 80,000 to 400,000 unique proteins each playing their own role. And, just like the way a building is built determines its use, a protein’s structure decides what tasks it performs. Yet, although it is easy to distinguish an apartment from an office, according to UCONN Health, it can take scientists between a few weeks to a few months to piece together what a protein looks like.

The Game Changer

This is where AlphaFold sneaks in. Although, as seen in the video above, the task was not easy, AlphaFold chose a different approach to this problem: artificial intelligence. 

Nowadays, the word artificial intelligence pops-up everywhere from self-driving cars to artificial voices, but what is most important is how it works and how it can be applied to the protein folding problem.

General scheme for developing an artificial intelligence model.

 

For the computer it all starts with data. As seen in the diagram above, once given data the computer looks for patterns between points. These patterns can then be used to make predictions on new data. Before in their final structure, proteins begin as a simple string of amino acids, or the building blocks of proteins. Given a dataset with the original string paired with the protein in its final form, the computer looks for patterns between the two. Using these patterns it can then predict what a protein might look like from just its string.

The Importance

Just one of the many protein folding predictions generated by AlphaFold’s model.

To the left you can see one prediction Alpha Fold’s model created. In comparison to the time it takes in the lab, this model is able to make a prediction in a mere half an hour with 90% accuracy according to their statement. In fact, it has already helped a biologist named Andrei Lupis with piecing together a protein his team has been stuck on for a decade. In an interview with Nature, Lupis even said: 

This is a game changer, this will change medicine. It will change research. It will change bioengineering. It will change everything.

With this new break-through, not only will scientists save time and money by not having to experimentally determine a protein’s structure, but research will accelerate at a pace never seen before. 

Beyond AlphaFold

While AlphaFold may be a hot-topic, beyond protein folding AI has also been used for a variety of tasks including interpreting MRI images or even predicting climate change. The applications seem to be limitless so make sure to keep an eye out, the next breakthrough could be coming up just around the corner!

Jessica Petrochuk

 

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Catnip Magic was a Protection Against Mosquitoes

Posted on February 25, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Catnip is a plant that can bring about a euphoric state and cause most cats to act unusually. Scientists long thought the only driving force of their obsession was the euphoric experience, just like when humans drink alcohol. However, researchers have found that the chemical in catnip called nepetalactone is an effective mosquito repellant, and protects cats from infectious diseases.

If you own a cat, you may have used catnip products and witnessed your cat rolling, flipping, and rubbing, just like in the video below. Some cats even zone out!

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Video Credit: Wild At Heart | BBC Earth

As mentioned in the narrative, catnips are harmless to cats, and the euphoric effect does not last long. The responses to catnip are also observed in other felids such as lions and bobcats.

“For cats, catnip may be a recreational drug but it’s totally harmless. […] After about 10 minutes, the cats come back down to Earth” (Wild At Heart, BBC Earth)

Why do cats behave in this way?

Since first found by a British botanist back in 1759 (9), this behaviour remained mysterious for a long time. However, in January 2021, a team of scientists from universities in Japan and The University of Liverpool found that the responses allowed cats to protect themselves from mosquito bites.

The team found that in the catnip, the significant component that induces the characteristic behaviour is called nepetalactone, which is the oil in the plant that gives its distinctive odour. The team also found that it has mosquito repellent activity.

When cats sniff nepetalactone, it stimulates the brain system called u-opioid, which is a part of the brain that controls the rewarding effects. Researchers confirmed that the stimulation induces cats to rub their bodies and face against the chemical. These rubbing and rolling behaviours transfer the chemical onto their fur, allowing cats to gain a chemical defence against mosquitoes.

The research sheds light on developing new mosquito repellents for humans using nepetalactone.

The neurophysiological and functional significance of silver vine response in cats.
Image Credit: Chie Nakayama, adapted from Reiko Uenoyama, Iwate University. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd9135

You can access the research paper from here.

– Chie Nakayama

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Treating Depression: Personalized Deep Brain Stimulation

Posted on February 8, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Source: flickr.com

How would you feel if the treatment or medication you were taking had little to no effect in suppressing your symptoms? Unfortunately, this is the case for 1 in 3 patients diagnosed with depression. These patients fall under a category known as treatment-resistant depression. Personalized deep brain stimulation, a promising alternative to conventional treatments, has the potential to solve this problem by allowing physicians to tailor treatments to an individual’s needs.

The Problem

Depression, which is characterized by low mood, is linked to an imbalance of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine neurotransmitters in the brain. It is a common mental illness that affects the way someone feels, thinks, and acts. However, it is important to note that depression varies significantly among individuals and many other factors play a role. As stated by Ben Paul from USC Viterbi School of Engineering,

“Mental disorders can manifest differently in each patient’s brain.”

There is no one single treatment that is able to effectively treat the symptoms of depression among all diagnosed individuals. This makes it hard for physicians to provide the best treatment for their patients.

What is deep brain stimulation?

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical procedure where electrodes are implanted within specific areas of the brain. By electrically stimulating these parts of the brain, physicians can reduce the symptoms associated with depression. The amount of stimulation is controlled by a pacemaker that is placed under skin on the chest.

The video below explains this procedure further and contains an interview with Edi Guyton, a patient who had this surgery: 

Source: CNN | Youtube

Promising Alternative: Personalized Deep Brain Stimulation 

Even with deep brain stimulation, each patient’s response to treatment will be different. However, one of the pros of deep brain stimulation is that it results in immediate changes. This is the key component that allows physicians to personalize treatment.

Research led by Maryam Shanechi and her team at USC Viterbi School of Engineering have figured out a way to predict and see how an individual’s brain responds to stimulation. This allows physicians to monitor brain regions in real time.

How is this done? 

           Two tools have been designed: 

  1. Electrical stimulation wave to map brain activity
  2. Machine-learning techniques that are able to learn the mapped brain activity which is collected during stimulation 

The stimulation wave designed by Maryam and her team randomly changes amplitude and frequency of the electrical impulse over time. A change in amplitude and frequency would be the equivalent to changing the milligram dose of a pill. Analysis of brain activity during these changes will allow physicians to arrive at the correct stimulation doses.  As a result, physicians will be able to personalize and tailor the deep brain stimulation for the individual. 

This treatment can be used to find an effective approach for almost all patients diagnosed with depression.  Success within this field of personalized deep brain stimulation will hopefully lead to more application for other mental disorders. 

– Samantha Nalliah

 

 

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Forgot Something? Suspect Your Dopamine

Posted on February 8, 2021 by | Leave a comment

You open up an internet browser, but you forget what you were going to search for or why you even started your computer. Have you ever come across these situations?  The recent research on the temporary memory loss have discovered the betrayer within our body: the notorious dopamine.

Dopamine has a reputation as the “happy hormone.” It’s a neurotransmitter, a substance that conveys signals between neurons, that mediates pleasure in our brain and makes you crave for the things you love. For instance, you constantly refresh your Instagram feed or click on the next recommended video on YouTube because your brain remembers and relate those activities to pleasure. Then every time you perform those activities your brain release dopamine, which makes you feel good.

Social Media and Distractions

Source: Fauno (pixabay.com)

Q: Sounds good! Everyone loves pleasure and happiness! What’s the problem?

A: Humans are not supposed to feel pleasure every time. In a nutshell, dopamine acts very similar to recreational drug because it constantly tempts you and controls you to do things that provides instant gratification and crave for stronger pleasure. The problem of dopamine addiction recently arose because of the rapid technological advancement, which allows for easy access to activities that release dopamine such as social media, video games, and pornography. People have hard time focusing on their work and managing their time because they crave that dopamine shots.

Here’s a video that talks about effect of dopamine on human and possible solution to overcome addiction:

YouTube Preview Image

Source: TopThink (youtube.com)

In addition, the researchers from Scripps Research Institute revealed dopamine’s another dark secret. They discovered the mechanism in which the stimulation of dopamine circuit is responsible for transient forgetting, also known as temporary memory loss. In particular, the biochemical team specified a single pair of dopamine-releasing neuron, named PPL1- α2α’2, that causes the universal nuisance in our brain.

Source: Tumisu (pixabay.com)

In summary, the research taught Drosophila, the common fruit fly, to associate certain scent with unpleasant shock. However, when the subject was introduced to interfering stimuli such as a puff of air or blue light, the type of light emitted from the screens of your electronic devices, the dopamine released due to the stimuli interfered with the flies’ memory retrieval signal and the flies temporarily forgot the scent’s negative association.

Furthermore, the research found a positive correlation between the strength of the stimulus and the lasting period of memory loss. In other words, exposure to stronger stimulus, such as illicit drugs or concentrated alcohol, require more time to recover from the transient memory loss.

During the unprecedented period of pandemic, without social interactions, you probably consume more social media feeds or YouTube videos for your daily dose of dopamine. However, think of dopamine as sugar for now. Your body needs it to continue the happy life, but addiction could bring potential complications with regards to your success and health. Control your dopamine. Don’t let YouTube recommendations control you!

-Matthew Lim

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Need to Sober Up? Just Breathe Out the Booze!

Posted on February 7, 2021 by | Leave a comment

With regard to alcohol, many of us have previously reached the so-called point of no return: a moment where the pleasant buzz is replaced by a throbbing headache (and massive amounts of regret). If only there was a simple way to quickly sober up…

Alcohol! Source: awee_19, Flickr

A simple overview of ethanol breakdown

First, let’s dive into the details as to how our bodies break down alcohol. Once ethanol arrives at the stomach and small intestine, it is absorbed into the bloodstream. From there, it can travel to various organs in your body, or end up in the liver. The liver is responsible for detoxifying 90% of the ethanol that we consume; the remaining 10% is eliminated through sweat, urine, and breath.

However, the rate at which the liver breaks down ethanol is zeroth-order: meaning that the breakdown rate is always constant, no matter how much ethanol is in your system. This explains why we haven’t been able to develop techniques to speed up the rate of ethanol breakdown in our livers.

The next natural step would be to see whether we can speed up the elimination of the remaining 10% of ethanol in our bloodstreams. Turns out, we can! Remember how we said earlier that some ethanol is removed via breathing? This works the same way that we breathe out carbon dioxide: because the concentration of ethanol in our bloodstream is higher than in the air that we breathe in, some ethanol diffuses into our lungs and we breathe it out!

A breathalyzer uses the fact that we breathe out ethanol to determine our blood alcohol concentration (BAC). Source: Dave Shea, Flickr

So can I just hyperventilate until I start to feel sober?

In theory, you could… but you really shouldn’t. Hyperventilating will reduce your ethanol levels, sure, but it will decrease your CO2 levels as well: causing your brain’s blood vessels to narrow, and ultimately depriving your brain of oxygen. Thankfully, a recent study published just last year has found a simple and effective solution, utilizing isocapnic hyperpnea.

Isocapnic hyperpnea: what is it?

To put it simply, isocapnic hyperpnea (IH) is when you deeply (and sometimes rapidly) breathe in air that has an equal concentration of carbon dioxide as present in your bloodstream. In the study, participants consumed diluted vodka, then were connected to an apparatus which supplied air of CO2 concentration similar to levels found in normal blood vessels. This allowed the subjects to breathe out ethanol at a higher rate while maintaining steady CO2 levels in their blood. The results of the study showed that the participants who underwent IH showed an ethanol elimination rate which was more than three times greater than participants who breathed regularly!

A demonstration of the IH apparatus. Source: UHN

Deaths caused by alcohol poisoning are far too common. In the future, IH could help paramedics in clearing the alcohol out of a patient’s system in a timely manner, which could ultimately save their lives. Remember to always drink responsibly!

 

– Sam Jung

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Microalgae Used to Create Biodiesel: An Organism That Can Save Our Planet?

Posted on February 6, 2021 by | Leave a comment

It is quite obvious by now that if we don’t change our ways of living, our planet is doomed. Due to rapid industrialization and urbanization, there is an increased amount of pollutants emitted into the atmosphere that are slowly damaging the earth. In today’s society, most of the energy production is coming from fossil fuel combustion and this is the key source of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. The primary energy demand will continue to increase and as of right now, fossil fuels still contribute to 82% of the global demand of energy.

Source: bbc.com

An article written by Ashokkumar Veeramuthu and team describes the potential use of microalgae to produce biodiesel. You may be asking, what are microalgae and what the heck is biodiesel? Let’s jump straight into it.

What is Biodiesel?

Biodiesel is made from materials such as plant oils and animal fats. It’s an alternative to petroleum diesel and has a more favourable combustion profile as it emits much less CO, CO2 and SO2 into the atmosphere. Since we are slowly killing our planet, replacing our non-renewable energy sources with green alternative sources doesn’t sound like a bad idea.

Why Use Microalgae?

You may be wondering, what is so special about microalgae? Why can’t we use some type of terrestrial plant like corn to produce biodiesel? Studies show that the use of microalgae is the best option for the production of a renewable and sustainable source of energy. Microalgae are unicellular photosynthetic organisms living in aqueous environments that convert sunlight, water and CO2 into algal biomass. The reason why there has been a shift of attention towards microalgae to produce biodiesel is because microalgae provide a large range of advantages compared to terrestrial plants. The benefits of microalgae include high lipid concentrations (which can easily be converted to biodiesel through a process called transesterification), rapid growth and minimal nutrient requirements. The table below compares values of the biodiesel productivity of microalgae and other plants.

Amount of biodiesel productivity for different feedstocks. Source: intechopen.com

Microalgae also tend to grow 10 times more rapidly than terrestrial plants and less than a tenth amount of land is required to produce the same amount of biomass. Additionally, microalgae don’t require immense amount of fertilizers to grow unlike terrestrial plants. The cultivation of microalgae can be carried out by using wastewater, since it is rich in key nutrients. Furthermore, the use of wastewater decreases costs of cultivation greatly and makes biodiesel production commercially viable.

This video showcases the whole process in a nutshell:

 Source: David T. Kearns (YouTube)

In today’s world, there’s a shift of attention to deal with the issue of climate change. From Elon Musk creating fully electric vehicles to Joe Biden rejoining the Paris climate accord within hours into presidency, we as humans are finally taking initiative to save our planet. The future of creating fuels from microalgae sounds promising and having a range of renewable sources of green energy will be beneficial to us in the coming time.

– Parwaz Gill

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Quote

A ‘Viral’ Testing Kit: ID Now COVID-19

THE PROBLEM

All around the world, new COVID-19 testing centres are constantly being opened in response to the growing number of victims. These testing centres provide information about one’s diagnosis, but often through a stressful and lengthy experience. Testing centers around Canada experience wait times of up to 2 hours, and usually requires a minimum of at least 48 hours before results become available. This is a problem.

COVID-19 Testing Centre in North Vancouver
Credit: Jane Seyd, www.nsnews.com

Besides just being tedious, this lengthy processing time has other concerns. The Director of Abbott, Norman Moore describes it:

“You’re the most infectious early on—and if we don’t have results in that timely fashion, what does it help if a molecular test comes back two weeks later?”

THE SOLUTION

This is where Moore and his team at Abbott steps in. Having already developed reliable testing tools for influenzas A&B, strep A, and respiratory syncytial virus, it was only a matter of time before COVID-19 testing apparatuses were developed. In early 2020, Abbott developed the ID Now COVID-19 Rapid Nucleic Acid Amplification Test, and launched for distribution in the US after receiving approval for emergency use from the FDA that year in March. Shortly after, Health Canada provided approval of use in October 2020.

NO IMAGEAbbott’s ID Now COVID-19 Test
Credit: abbot.com

This Rapid Nucleic Acid Amplification Test takes nasal swabs from individuals suspected with COVID-19, and exposes the viral RNA packed under the outer envelope of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in an acidic solution at 56⁰ C. Just as it is written in the name, it then takes the viral RNA and amplifies it hundreds of millions of times until it is detectable by the system, and what’s more this impressive amplification process is done is a matter of minutes, and test results are returned within 13 minutes.

A Typical Nasal Swab
Credit: U.S. Pacific Fleet, www.flickr.com

It’s normal to have some doubt when the current gold standard testing protocol in Canada (RT-PCR) takes 6-8 hours on average. We can compare the accuracy of an ID Now diagnosis to PCR lab tests by considering sensitivity and specificity.

  • Sensitivity measures the proportion of people with COVID that are correctly identified
  • Specificity measures the proportion of people without COVID that are correctly identified

Abbot’s clinical trial on 1003 subjects reported an average sensitivity of 93.3% and specificity of 98.4%. This is comparable to a separate meta-analysis on lab PCR testing which determined an average sensitivity of 98%, and no reported specificity. Note that these numbers are dependent on many factors, and are often higher than what is seen in the real world. This shows that ID Now can be an effective solution to rapid testing, but that results should be taken as preliminary and confirmed with other molecular assessments if results are not consistent with one’s symptoms.

This is Abbott’s response to the ‘rapidly’ changing world. They have provided frontline workers across North America with rapid testing, but whether or not they can combat COVID-19 as quickly as their tests do remains a question.

~William Lee

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Posted on February 1, 2021 by in Biological Sciences, Science in the News

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