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Massive Multiplexing Can Deliver a $1 Test for COVID-19

Paul DN Hebert, Sean WJ Prosser, Natalia V Ivanova, Evgeny V Zakharov, Sujeevan Ratnasingham
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.05.079400
Paul DN Hebert
1Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1
2Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1
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  • For correspondence: phebert@uoguelph.ca
Sean WJ Prosser
1Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1
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Natalia V Ivanova
1Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1
2Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1
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Evgeny V Zakharov
1Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1
2Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1
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Sujeevan Ratnasingham
1Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1
2Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1
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ABSTRACT

The severe acute respiratory syndrome virus, SARS-CoV-2 (hereafter COVID-19), rapidly achieved global pandemic status, provoking large-scale screening programs in many nations. Their activation makes it imperative to identify methods that can deliver a diagnostic result at low cost. This paper describes an approach which employs sequence variation in the gene coding for its envelope protein as the basis for a scalable, inexpensive test for COVID-19. It achieves this by coupling a simple RNA extraction protocol with low-volume RT-PCR, followed by E-Gel screening and sequencing on high-throughput platforms to analyze 10,000 samples in a run. Slight modifications to the protocol could support screening programs for other known viruses and for viral discovery. Just as the $1,000 genome is transforming medicine, a $1 diagnostic test for viral and bacterial pathogens would represent a major advance for public health.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • Competing Interests and Disclosures None

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted May 08, 2020.
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Massive Multiplexing Can Deliver a $1 Test for COVID-19
Paul DN Hebert, Sean WJ Prosser, Natalia V Ivanova, Evgeny V Zakharov, Sujeevan Ratnasingham
bioRxiv 2020.05.05.079400; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.05.079400
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Massive Multiplexing Can Deliver a $1 Test for COVID-19
Paul DN Hebert, Sean WJ Prosser, Natalia V Ivanova, Evgeny V Zakharov, Sujeevan Ratnasingham
bioRxiv 2020.05.05.079400; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.05.079400

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