New low-cost 3D printed device can now detect COVID-19 variants in your pin

Researchers at MIT and Harvard University have designed a small tabletop device called SHERLOCK with minimal instrumentation (miSHERLOCK) which can detect SARS-CoV-2 from a saliva sample in about an hour and with the same accuracy as PCR tests currently in use.

The device can also detect specific viral mutations linked to some of the SARS-CoV-2 variants currently in circulation.

“We have demonstrated that our platform can be programmed to detect new variants that emerge, and that we could reuse it quite quickly,” said James Collins, Termeer professor of medical engineering and science at the Institute, in a statement. for MIT’s Medical Engineering and Science (IMES) and Department of Biological Engineering.

“In this study, we targeted the British, South African and Brazilian variants, but you can easily adapt the diagnostic platform to treat the Delta variant and others that are emerging.”

The device is based on CRISPR technology, is 3D printed and costs only $ 15. Reusing the hardware reduces the cost of individual tests to $ 6 each, and that price could also drop significantly if the devices were produced on a large scale.

“MiSHERLOCK eliminates the need to transport patient samples to a centralized testing site and dramatically simplifies sample preparation steps, giving patients and physicians a faster and more accurate picture of individual and community health, which is essential during an evolving pandemic, ”said co-lead author Helena de Puig, postdoctoral fellow at the Wyss Institute and MIT.

The researchers said they produced their new device to make testing easier, simpler and more efficient.

“Simple things that were ubiquitous in the hospital, like nasopharyngeal swabs, were suddenly difficult to obtain, so routine sample processing procedures were disrupted, which is a big problem in a pandemic setting.” said co-first author Rose Lee who is also a visiting scholar at the Wyss Institute. “Our team’s motivation for this project was to eliminate these bottlenecks and provide accurate diagnostics for COVID-19 with less reliance on global supply chains, and also to accurately detect which variants were starting to appear. emerge.”