McMaster University researchers are developing a home test for COVID-19
- Michael Kras
- 14 Apr 2020
Researchers in the Biointerfaces Institute at Hamilton’s McMaster University are moving quickly to develop and produce a COVID-19 testing kit for home use.
The testing kit, which is pushing to move forward to a manufacturing stage within the next few months, will allow for self-diagnosis in a similar manner to a pregnancy test, detecting the genetic material of the COVID-19 virus and displaying a result on a test strip within 20 minutes.
"We want to get a self-administered test out the door as quickly as we can. It could be really important for identifying new clusters and stopping community spread by asymptomatic carriers,” says Dr. John Brennan and his team @McMasterU https://t.co/JwWSBQ052d
— McMaster Innovation Park (@MIP_Hamilton) April 14, 2020
The team at McMaster’s Biointerfaces Institute have spearheaded multiple similar projects in past years, developing portable and user-friendly tests for other diseases and infections such as E.coli.
This new COVID-19 home test is being developed by a team of 11 researchers, with the goal of creating and distributing a test that can be used easily at home and eliminate the need for trips to a doctor’s office or hospital while the vast majority of Canada’s population remains in self-isolation.
Another key advantage of a home testing kit is that it, of course, would not simply be limited to people exhibiting potential symptoms of COVID-19; those who are positive for coronavirus but completely asymptomatic would also be able to access the testing kit, aiding an individual’s ability to help limit community spread of the virus.
While the team at McMaster is making use of seed money from the university itself and actively seeking private and public partners for the next stages, they are simultaneously attempting to fast-track the home test so, ideally, it can be manufactured in large quantities and made available to consumers within the next several months.
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