
April 20, 2022
Portable, point-of-care COVID-19 test discerns alpha variant from earlier strains
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A point-of-care COVID-19 test developed by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign can now detect and differentiate the alpha variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from earlier strains in saliva samples. The new test builds on the group’s previous developments, which allowed samples to bypass the laboratory – first using nasopharyngeal swabs, then with saliva samples. The point-of-care amplification and testing process, called LAMP, is more efficient than PCR because it does […]