(CRISPR is so precise at inserting and deleting DNA that it has been described as using molecular scissors.) Both were doctoral students working in the lab of Feng Zhang, an MIT neuroscience and biological engineering professor, and a core member of the Broad Institute. In 2015, long before coronavirus was making headlines, Omar Abudayyeh ’12, PhD ’18, and Jonathan Gootenberg ’13 made a surprising discovery in the lab that suggested a powerful new use for the gene-editing technique known as CRISPR. But what if we could have both, and at a low cost? Through innovations like wearable tech, convenient home-testing devices, and even entirely new platforms, MIT researchers are developing accurate, cheap covid tests for homes and clinics that provide results in under an hour.

Until recently, we have had to choose between the accuracy of PCR tests and the speed of antigen tests. People in the very early or late stages of the disease may have a low viral load, meaning there may not be enough telltale protein for the test to pick up, so they could be infected with SARS-CoV-2 but receive negative results from a rapid antigen test-and unwittingly keep spreading the virus.

Such tests, which can be done at home, deliver results quickly, but they tend to be less accurate than PCR tests. Rather than looking for nucleic acid, they detect the presence of viral proteins called antigens that are present on the surface of the virus. In comparison, rapid antigen tests are quicker and easier to administer. But these PCR tests, as they’re known, require expensive equipment, trained technicians, and multiple steps involving careful handling of liquids, and they take several hours to run.

The nucleic acid tests most common in the US use reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to amplify genetic material and can detect even tiny amounts of coronavirus RNA. “There is a significant global need to get to inexpensive rapid tests while someone is in the infectious state.”ĭiagnostic tests that analyze nucleic acids, also called molecular tests, are the gold standard in covid testing because they can precisely and reliably identify the presence of an infectious pathogen by detecting either its unique genetic sequences or substances it makes. “We need testing technologies that will work in both the developed and developing world,” says James Collins, Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering and Science in MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, a professor of biological engineering, and a member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

Rapid covid testing accuracy