Development of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)-based electrochemical test for rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2
Khushboo Borah Slater,
Muhammad Ahmad,
Aurore Poirier,
Ash Stott,
Bianca Sica Siedler,
Matthew Brownsword,
Jai Mehat,
Joanna Urbaniec,
Nicolas Locker,
Yunlong Zhao,
Roberto La Ragione,
S. Ravi P. Silva,
Johnjoe McFadden
Affiliations
Khushboo Borah Slater
School of Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Muhammad Ahmad
Advanced Technology Institute, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Aurore Poirier
School of Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK; School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7AL, UK
Ash Stott
Advanced Technology Institute, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Bianca Sica Siedler
School of Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Matthew Brownsword
School of Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Jai Mehat
School of Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Joanna Urbaniec
School of Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Nicolas Locker
School of Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Yunlong Zhao
Advanced Technology Institute, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Roberto La Ragione
School of Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK; School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7AL, UK
S. Ravi P. Silva
Advanced Technology Institute, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK; Corresponding author
Johnjoe McFadden
School of Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK; Corresponding author
Summary: Rapid, reliable, sensitive, portable, and accurate diagnostics are required to control disease outbreaks such as COVID-19 that pose an immense burden on human health and the global economy. Here we developed a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)-based electrochemical test for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19. The test is based on the oxidation-reduction reaction between pyrophosphates (generated from positive LAMP reaction) and molybdate that is detected by cyclic voltammetry using inexpensive and disposable carbon screen printed electrodes. Our test showed higher sensitivity (detecting as low as 5.29 RNA copies/μL) compared to the conventional fluorescent reverse transcriptase (RT)-LAMP. We validated our tests using human serum and saliva spiked with SARS-CoV-2 RNA and clinical (saliva and nasal-pharyngeal) swab samples demonstrating 100% specificity and 93.33% sensitivity. Our assay provides a rapid, specific, and sensitive test with an electrochemical readout in less than 45 min that could be adapted for point-of-care settings.
