The University of California, Los Angeles received U.S. Food & Drug Administration approval Wednesday for a new novel coronavirus testing method that is faster and cheaper than most on the market, allowing for thousands of tests to be processed and their results returned in a day.
The test analyzes the genomic sequencing of samples to identify infected people — including those who are asymptomatic — by having them spit into a tube that then goes directly into a machine.
<p>The test uses saliva without extracting the RNA from it, and so is "accurate enough" in comparison to the traditional polymerase chain reaction — or PCR — tests, which are the existing gold-standard for testing but can take days to process, said Dr. Eleazar Eskin, a computer scientist and geneticist who is chair of the Department of Computational Medicine at UCLA. He was part of the team that developed the new testing technology.</p><p>The researchers who developed the method hope to test the entire UCLA population twice a week beginning in a few weeks and already have a <a href="https://stopcovid19together.org/testing" target="_blank">proof-of-concept online</a>, Eskin said.</p><p>The <a href="https://stopcovid19together.org/testing" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">platform known as "SwabSeq"</a> looks for a piece of the genetic code of SARS-CoV-2, an RNA virus that causes COVID-19. For every sample of saliva received, the researchers add a barcode or "sticker." They then mix the samples together and put them into the genomic sequencing machine. Then, by looking at the barcode or "sticker" of the result, they can identify those samples infected with the novel coronavirus.</p><p>At scale, "it costs $10 a test, and we can do tens of thousands of tests at UCLA with a lab of 10 people," Eskin said. The technology leverages decades of advancements in genomic sequencing technology since mapping of the Human Genome Project.</p><p>According to a <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.08.04.20167874v2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">pre-print article on the technology, which has not been peer reviewed</a>, the researchers wrote: "SwabSeq is simple, sensitive, flexible, rapidly scalable, inexpensive enough to test widely and frequently, and can provide a turn around time of 12 to 24 hours."</p><p>The traditional PCR tests are far more labor intensive and require extracting the RNA from a patient's sample under a specific safety hood before they can be tested.</p><p>"We <a href="https://ucla.app.box.com/s/wqjwmxxtaurst5n10fk2ebeuky9klx82" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">literally have people spit into a tube</a> and that tube goes directly in the machine," Eskin said. "So it's going to be much more scalable."</p><p>The sample goes into a sequencer and then put onto a computer to analyze the data.</p><p>SwabSeq was developed as part of a collaboration between UCLA's Department of Human Genetics, the university's new Department of Computational Medicine, UCLA Health and Octant Inc., a startup biotechnology company founded and incubated at UCLA. The group began working on the new method in March, Eskin said.___</p><p>__</p><p><em>Do you have a story that needs to be told? My DMs are open on <a href="https://twitter.com/latams" target="_blank">Twitter @latams</a>. You can also email me at tami(at)dot.la, or ask for my contact on Signal, for more secure and private communications.<br/></em></p>
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Lots happened in the L.A. tech and startup community this week. dot.LA chief host and correspondent Kelly O'Grady takes you through the key stories:
- COVID: iFoster Helps Save Semester for Foster Youth, UCLA Projects Economy Will Take 3 Years to Recover
- Media: Cameo CEO Talks Disrupting Entertainment Industry, Atom Tickets Optimistic About Movie Theaters' Future
- Startups: 'Anti-Superficial' Dating App S'More Launches in L.A., Relativity Space Gains West Coast Launch Site
- HelloOffice Bets on Returning to Offices with $20M Series A
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Coronavirus Updates: Apple and Google Partnering to Track Coronavirus, UCLA Downgrades Economic Outlook
Apr 10 2020
Here are the latest headlines regarding how the novel coronavirus is impacting the Los Angeles startup and tech communities. Sign up for our newsletter and follow dot.LA on Twitter for the latest updates.
Today:
- Apple and Google partner to help track COVID-19
- UCLA sees the U.S. economy dropping further amid COVID-19
- L.A. County extends stay-at-home orders until May 15
L.A. County extends stay-at-home orders until May 15
<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fcountyofla%2Fvideos%2F2861300104124991%2F&show_text=0&width=560" width="560" height="315" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe><p>Los Angeles County health officials extended stay-at-home orders through May 15 as it warned residents that as many as 30% could be infected by Aug. 1 with the fast spreading virus. </p><p>The orders came after health officials reviewed new modeling that showed social distancing was helping to stem the virus but they needed to continue. </p><p>COVID-19 has claimed another 18 individual as another 475 new cases emerged, the county's public health director Barbara Ferrer said on Friday. That brings total cases in the county to 8,430 including 241 deaths. </p>Apple and Google partner to help track COVID-19
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkyODU4Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyODM2MDcwMX0.NlDl7PcBt5BJp0TbVQuoWourYaA5P0VIhNZgJUXuiPA/image.jpg?width=980" id="f2433" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0f2dabf43ae09f44221d540a5ad05a8a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /> <p>Rival tech giants Apple and Google are partnering to incorporate tracking software onto their respective operating systems in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the L.A. Times <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-04-10/apple-google-coronavirus-covid-19-contact-tracing" target="_blank">reports</a>. </p><p>The "contract-tracing" technology will roll out in two steps. In mid-May, both companies will enable their devices to share anonymized information, irrespective of operating system. The tech will initially interface with apps run by public authorities. Users, who must opt in to the feature, will notify those apps when they've tested positive for COVID-19. Then, the people with whom those users have been in close contact over a determined period will receive a notification. </p><p>In the second phase, the tech companies will embed the functionality directly into their operating systems so users need not download any app. Users will again have to opt in. </p><p>Google and Apple stressed they are taking measures to protect users' privacy. In total, notes the Times, the two companies' operating systems serve about 3 billion people, over 33% of the global population. </p><p>California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Friday that the administration was in talks with the tech companies and would see how the tracing technology can be used as the state plans for the eventual lifting of at-home orders. </p>UCLA sees the U.S. economy dropping further amid COVID-19
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkyODUwMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MTk2OTUyMH0.r6GmIdnhZ_lhz0tK0oEOQpfUWof1o32qRn8MN9PSZt8/image.jpg?width=980" id="0c72d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f507823495c7a33d5fb8ed74e5d4ffed" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /> <p>UCLA issued the following dispatch: "Given the speed of the U.S. economy's rate of decline amid the coronavirus pandemic, the UCLA Anderson Forecast team has updated its views, downgrading the near-term outlook." The university cited senior economist David Shulman's forecast that real GDP is now on track to decline in the second quarter of 2020 by 7.5% from the previous quarter (an annual rate of -30%), and decline by an additional 1.25% in the third quarter (an annual rate of -5%). <a href="https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/ucla-anderson-forecast-economy-rapid-decline" target="_blank"> Read More <<</a></p>From Your Site Articles
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