The University of Aberdeen collaborated with the biotechnology group Vertebrate Antibodies Ltd and NHS Grampian to develop an antibody test that can detect whether people have been exposed to the new variant of Covid-19. The new test can detect the antibody response to SARS infection-the CoV-2 virus has more than 98% accuracy and 100% specificity. This is in contrast to currently available tests, which have an accuracy rate of about 60-93% and cannot distinguish between unique variants. For the first time, the new test can be used to estimate the prevalence of spreading variants in the community, including variants that were first discovered in Kent and India, now known as Alpha and Delta variants. These tests can also assess an individual’s long-term immunity, and whether immunity is induced by the vaccine or the result of previous exposure to infection-this information is very valuable to help prevent the spread of infection. In addition, testing can also provide information that can be used to estimate the duration of immunity provided by the vaccine and the effectiveness of the vaccine against emerging mutations. This is an improvement over the currently available tests that are difficult to detect mutations and provide little or no information about the impact of virus mutations on vaccine performance. The academic leader of the project, Professor Mirela Delibegovic from the University of Aberdeen, explained: “Accurate antibody testing will become more and more important in the management of the pandemic. This is a truly game-changing technology that may Greatly changing the trajectory of the global recovery comes from the pandemic.” Professor Delibegovic worked with NHS Grampian’s industry partners, vertebrate antibodies and colleagues to develop new tests using an innovative antibody technology called Epitogen. With funding from the COVID-19 Rapid Response (RARC-19) research project in the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Scottish Government, the team uses an artificial intelligence called EpitopePredikt to identify specific elements or “hot spots” of viruses that trigger the body’s immune defenses. The researchers were then able to develop a new method to display these viral elements because they would naturally appear in the virus, using the biological platform they named EpitoGen technology. This method improves the performance of the test, which means that only relevant virus elements are included to increase sensitivity. Importantly, this method can incorporate newly emerged mutants into the test, thereby increasing the test detection rate. Like Covid-19, the EpitoGen platform can also be used to develop highly sensitive and specific diagnostic tests for infectious and autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes. Dr. Abdo Alnabulsi, chief operating officer of AiBIOLOGICS, who helped develop the technology, said: “Our test designs meet the gold standard requirements for such tests. In our tests, they have been proven to be more accurate and provide better than existing tests.” Dr. Tiehui Wang, Director of Biological Agents of Vertebrate Antibodies Ltd, added: “We are very proud of our technology for making such a contribution during a challenging year.” The EpitoGen test is the first of its kind and will play an important role in the fight against the pandemic. And pave the way for future diagnoses.” Professor Delibegovic added: “As we pass the pandemic, we see the virus mutate into more transmissible variants, such as the Delta variant, which will affect vaccine performance and overall immunity. Power has a negative impact. The currently available tests cannot detect these variants. As the virus mutates, existing antibody tests will become more inaccurate, so there is an urgent need for a new method to include mutant strains in the test-this is what we have achieved. “Looking forward, we are already discussing whether it is possible to roll out these tests to the NHS, and we hope to see this happen soon.” NHS Grampian infectious disease consultant and research team member Dr. Brittain-Long added: “This new test platform It adds vital sensitivity and specificity to currently available serological tests, and makes it possible to monitor individual and group-based immunity in an unprecedented way. “In my work, I have personally experienced that this virus may be I am very happy to add another tool to the toolbox to fight this epidemic. “This article is reproduced from the following material. Note: The material may have been edited for length and content. For more information, please contact the cited source.
Post time: Jun-17-2021