Supported by the Ministry of Industry and Technology and TÜBITAK within the scope of Law 6550 and developed under the UNAM infrastructure by UNAM PI Asst. Prof. Urartu Şeker and his team’s work, titled as “Development of RNA Key Systems for the Diagnosis of SARS-Cov-2” was awarded the first prize in the “diagnostic field” by the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA) within the scope of the Global Outbreak Special Awards and will provide the opportunity to test other infections, including Covid-19, with high sensitivity, “at home”, without the need for a professional medical set-up.
Working with a higher sensitivity than PCR, the test has been transformed into a large respiratory panel that can simultaneously detect other viruses such as “RSV”, “Adenovirus” and “Influenza”. This new test, which was developed with domestic facilities, will cost a few dollars and will be an alternative to the respiratory panel tests that are already available in some hospitals, but cannot be widely used because it requires a laboratory setting and is more expensive.
