CDI Tracking COVID-19 Variants with New Test

Experts at the Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) have developed ahigh-throughput test that can detect multiple variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in two-and-a-half hours, a major advance in tracking the virus and in treating patients.

The test can detect the known UK, Brazil, and South African variants, as well as others containing the key E484K mutation, which are gaining prominence as the virus evolves. The global health community is in a race to vaccinate as many people as possible as variants threaten to create new surges. The study, which was co-authored with scientists from the New York Genome Center, was published online in medRxiv.