Building a prototype PCR reaction vessel for the direct detection of pathogens from blood

BGR已经开发出一种直接从原始样本中检测病毒病原体的方法，消除了对复杂实验室设施或专家使用的要求。这项技术最初是在2015年埃博拉疫情爆发后开发的，目的是确定是否有可能在资源匮乏的环境中进行实验室标准分子诊断。这里的建议是将BGR技术从检测病毒性出血热调整为艾滋病毒等病毒载量较低但影响人数要多得多的疾病。在这个项目中，BGR将建造一种新的反应容器来执行其管内检测，从而能够使用更多的血液，从而提高灵敏度。BGR已经开发的试剂能够在存在高水平血液的情况下检测病毒RNA，到目前为止高达20%，但在这些高比例下，用于确定目标存在的光学数据被抑制。这项工作的目标是创造晚期原型血管，与进化的试剂相结合，从光学光路中去除血液，从而提高该方法的灵敏度，并极大地增加该方法适用的疾病数量。例如，埃博拉患者每毫升血液中可能有100万种病毒，而丙型肝炎患者每毫升血液中约有50,001名艾滋病病毒患者在服用药物。目标是将灵敏度提高到3000/毫升，世界卫生组织已确定5000/毫升适用于资源匮乏地区的低成本诊断，用于检测肝炎和艾滋病毒等疾病。BGR方法只需不到50分钟，不需要实验室设施或培训，而且成本低，因为每一次测试都由一个塑料管和一个冷冻干燥的酶组成。因此，改进后的反应容器、试剂和仪器将大大增加这项创新对健康的影响，并为公司带来商业机会。然后，这些化验结果可用于协助血源性疾病的暴发。还设想，为该项目开发的新容器可以使用其他类型的样本，如呼吸道疾病的拭子。然后，BGR可以确定新的检测方法使用模型病毒的敏感度，并走向适当测试的商业化。

BGR has developed a method for detecting viral pathogens directly from crude samples, removing the requirement for complex lab facilities or expert use. The technique was originally developed in the wake of the 2015 Ebola outbreak to establish if it is possible to perform laboratory standard molecular diagnostics in resource poor environments. The proposal here is to adapt the BGR technology from the detection of viral haemorrhagic fevers to diseases such as HIV that have lower viral loads but impact far higher numbers of individuals. In this project BGR will build a new reaction vessel for performing its in tube detection that enables the use of greater volumes of blood and hence increase the sensitivity. The reagents that BGR have developed are capable of detecting the viral RNA in the presence of high levels of blood, as much as 20% to date, and yet at these high percentages the optical data used to determine the presence of the targets are inhibited. The goal of this work is to create late stage prototype vessels that, in combination with evolved reagents, remove the blood from the optical light path and therefore increase the sensitivity of the approach and greatly increase the number of diseases the approach will be appropriate for. As an example, an Ebola patient may have a million viruses per millilitre of blood whereas a patient with hepatitis C will have fifty thousand and a HIV patient on drugs around ten thousand. The target is to increase the sensitivity to 3000/ml, the WHO has identified 5000/ml as being suited to low-cost diagnostics in resource poor regions for the detection of disease such as Hepatitis and HIV. The BGR approach takes less than fifty minutes, requires no laboratory facilities or training and is low cost simply because each test on consists of a plastic tube and a freeze-dried enzyme. Therefore, the improved reaction vessel, reagents and instrument would greatly increase the health impact of this innovation and the commercial opportunities for the company. The assays can then be used to assist in outbreak situations of blood borne diseases. It is also envisaged that the new vessel developed for this project could make possible the use of other sample types such as swabs for respiratory disease. BGR can then determine how sensitive the new assays are using a model virus and move towards commercialisation of appropriate tests.