Recently, the outbreak of the new coronavirus infection in China has become one of the world’s most pressing healthcare issues. Due to the absence of fast, accurate, and timely methods of disease detection, millions of families are quarantined at home. Airports and high-speed train stations are closed. Hospitals are full of possible coronavirus patients waiting for diagnosis. Fortunately, these situations have the potential to be completely ameliorated with our novel technologies. Combining the industry-standard Taqman assay with innovative engineering concepts, our XDive™ Superfast Real-Time PCR system can perform accurate pathogen detection, including the coronavirus, in as short as 5 minutes for 40 PCR cycles with no loss of sensitivity and specificity. We also have created a superfast rRT-PCR kit for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus detection that can perform direct amplification on our instrument. The entire system can analyze 16 to 32 samples in a few minutes without the need of sample preparation. Both the instrument and the 2019 Novel Coronavirus detection kit are ready for clinical testing, and we are currently seeking collaborators to perform tests in China and in US. 

​

The presence of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) nucleic acid in human samples can be detected via reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) on the specimen such as throat swabs taken from suspected cases. The Star Array 2019 Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) Nucleic Acid Detection Kit 1.0 is designed to specifically identify the coronavirus through detecting its N gene and the ORF1ab gene, which are both commonly presented in beta-coronaviruses to encode conservative proteins. Star Array deploys one step RT- qPCR to mix all the reaction components of reverse transcription and PCR together with RNA sample in a single reaction. And the fluorescent signals generated by the reaction can be detected in real time manners.

​

The Star Array 2019 Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) Nucleic Acid Detection Kit 1.0 design specific primers and probes based on N gene and the ORF1ab gene areas of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). Probes are labelled with a reporter fluorophore at 5’ and a quenching fluorophore at 3’. The fluorescent signals emitted from the reporter fluorophores are absorbed by the quenchers immediately, so it doesn’t emit signals. During amplification, probes bonded to the targeted templates are cut off by TaqMan enzyme (5’-3’ exonuclease activity). The reporter dye thus separates from the quencher, generating fluorescent signals. The qPCR instrument then detects the signal and automatically draws a real-time amplification curve based on the signal change. The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is qualitatively detected if an exponential amplification curved is observed and the Ct value is measured less than the detection threshold.

​

The Star Array 2019 Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) Nucleic Acid Detection Kit 1.0 can be used to directly amplify the nucleic acid targets in the sample. The viral transport media from the swab sample is mixed with lysis buffer for a few minutes to release the RNA. Without further extraction and purification, the sample mix can be directly loaded on the XDive™ Superfast Real-Time PCR system for amplification and detection. 

 

For SARS-CoV-2 detection, the whole process from sample to answer only takes less than 10 minutes. The system can be used in any clinical environment.