In the News
A coronavirus test can be developed in 24 hours. So why are some countries still struggling to diagnose?
The first designs
In Hong Kong, virologist Leo Poon was also watching the developments unfold in January.
Like Landt, he had worked on emerging diseases for years. In 2003, it was his team of scientists at Hong Kong University (HKU) who identified that SARS, which had emerged the year before in mainland China, was a coronavirus.
“Because we have gone through all these events in the past, we know how important it is to have a working diagnostic test,” he said. “That’s why we basically tried to get the work done as soon as possible.”
But unlike Landt, Poon waited for the sequence.
All forms of life have a type of molecule that carries their genetic instructions. In humans, and most life forms, that’s DNA — the genetic material that tells us to grow two legs and walk upright. Instead of DNA, many viruses — including hepatitis, Ebola, and rabies — have RNA, or ribonucleic acid, which, like DNA, is a nucleic acid that carries genetic information.
Across the border from Hong Kong in mainland China, scientists were working to identify the RNA of the new virus. According to a report in Chinese news magazine Caixin, the new virus now known as SARS-CoV-2 may have been mostly sequenced as early as December 27.
But it wasn’t until January 11, that the sequenced genome was posted on open-source site virological.org on behalf of Zhang Yongzhen, a professor from Shanghai’s Fudan University. Chinese authorities shared the sequence on January 12.
Once Zhang shared the sequence, Poon’s team started work.
First, they looked at the RNA of the new coronavirus, and decided their test would target parts of the code that were similar to the RNA of the SARS coronavirus — parts that would be less likely to mutate, as they were essential to the virus.
Next, they designed the test…
