Scientists outline how to re-purpose research labs into COVID-19 testing centres
As the demand for COVID-19 diagnostic tests continues to soar, scientists have developed a blueprint to covert academic laboratories into facilities for testing patient samples for the novel coronavirus.
"As with other basic biology labs across the country, we were forced to shutter operations due to the pandemic," said study senior author George Murphy from Boston University School of Medicine in the US.
Murphy and his team said they had extensive experience developing and running the type of quantitative, real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) tests that is used to detect the presence of viral genetic material, RNA, in patient samples.
They then adapted their lab to the strict policies required to run a certified, College of American Pathologists (CAP) accredited diagnostic lab.
The scientists requested and received emergency permission from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to re-purpose their lab, and they began operating in less than a ...