Originally published on December 18, 2020 6:55 pm
Hungarian-born scientist Katalin Karikó believed in the potential of messenger RNA the genetic molecule at the heart of two new COVID-19 vaccines even when almost no one else did.
Karikó began working with RNA as a student in Hungary. When funding for her job there ran out, Kariko immigrated to Philadelphia in 1985. Over the years, she s been rejected for grant after grant, threatened with deportation and demoted from her faculty job by a university that saw her research as a dead end.
Through it all, Karikó just kept working.
If new COVID-19 vaccines help life in the U.S. get back to normal next year, the nation will have many immigrants such as Karikó to thank. Scientists and investors born outside the U.S. played crucial roles in the development of vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. It s a remarkable vindication for the argument often made by the biotech industry that innovation depends on the free movement of pe
Originally published on December 18, 2020 5:55 pm
Hungarian-born scientist Katalin Karikó believed in the potential of messenger RNA the genetic molecule at the heart of two new COVID-19 vaccines even when almost no one else did.
Karikó began working with RNA as a student in Hungary. When funding for her job there ran out, Kariko immigrated to Philadelphia in 1985. Over the years, she s been rejected for grant after grant, threatened with deportation and demoted from her faculty job by a university that saw her research as a dead end.
Through it all, Karikó just kept working.
If new COVID-19 vaccines help life in the U.S. get back to normal next year, the nation will have many immigrants such as Karikó to thank. Scientists and investors born outside the U.S. played crucial roles in the development of vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. It s a remarkable vindication for the argument often made by the biotech industry that innovation depends on the free movement of pe
Tulane Developing COVID Test You Can Take on Your Smartphone
If there is one certain way we can curtail the spread of COVID-19 it would be through improved testing. Right now our testing is pretty accurate but it s not really convenient nor is it particularly fast. Researchers at Tulane University hope to rectify that situation with a new testing program and protocol they ve developed using your saliva and your smartphone.
Dr. Tony Hu, the Chair of Biotechnology Innovation at Tulane told the Louisiana Radio Network that the test has a 97% accuracy rate. It should also be fairly inexpensive to distribute and the fact that it works with the kinds of smartphones that almost everyone has makes this testing idea very intriguing.
Baton Rouge / louisianaradionetwork.com
Dec 14, 2020 7:22 PM
Imagine being able to perform a COVID self-test at home and finding out the results within minutes. Researchers at Tulane University have created just that, a test that uses your own smartphone to give you results. Dr. Tony Hu, Chair of Biotechnology Innovation at Tulane said the saliva-based test has a 97-percent accuracy rate.
“After 15 minutes our cellphone readers to collect the image and you will know if it’s positive or negative,” said Dr. Hu.
The test must receive FDA approval first and Dr. Hu says a salvia test much easier, less invasive, and more consistent than a nasal swab. Dr. Hu said the cost will be minimal.
From Tulane University
Researchers from Tulane University have developed a 15-minute COVID-19 test that is read by a smartphone to address the need to expand testing capacity in community-based settings. This test uses the same CRISPR-based approach that the researchers have submitted to the Food and Drug Administration for Emergency Use Authorization.
Rapid PCR tests typically use nasal swab samples and are performed in laboratory settings by highly trained individuals using sophisticated equipment. The saliva-based COVID-19 test, which doesn’t require lab processing, could rapidly expand testing capacity in outpatient clinics, community testing sites and other locations.
The assay developed by researchers at Tulane detects SARS-CoV-2 virus RNA in saliva to diagnose COVID-19 and is more sensitive than PCR-based tests, the current gold standard for COVID-19 diagnosis. A report describing the development and validation of this test has recently been published in the journal