CIT Testing component
Cork Institute of Technology
CIT researcher helps to develop a key reagent in the Covid-19 testing process
Dr Brigid Lucey, CIT BioExplore Research Group, who is the current President of the Academy of Clinical Science and Laboratory and her colleague Dr Martina Scallan in UCC led a collaborative effort with colleagues in Teagasc, CUH, UL and Eli Lilly to successfully develop an effective lysis buffer formula for a key component of the Covid-19 testing process. This is one of the integral parts of the Covid-19 test. The agent not only strips the virus to be analysed from the respiratory secretions in the test sample but it also renders the highly infectious viral agent safe in a laboratory environment. The formula can be mass produced in Ireland and can be made available to other countries worldwide. This will help to alleviate the global shortage of testing agents for the virus.
