Molecular Beacons Technology Used in Rapid COVID-19 Tests

The molecular beacons technology invented by researchers at Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ, USA) will be used in about 50,000 COVID-19 tests produced per day by Abbott (Lake Forest, IL, USA). Abbott’s COVID-19 rapid test, which has received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) emergency use authorization, includes the molecular beacons technology that has been invented and perfected by Rutgers scientists over the last decade. The test, which uses a nose swab, takes less than 15 minutes to complete and can determine if the virus has invaded a cell, taken over its molecular machinery and is making new viruses.

The technology provides powerful tools for imaging RNA in living cells and can determine if COVID-19 is present in a clinical sample. Molecular beacons can bind to a target nucleic acid if it is present in the test solution. If COVID-19 RNA is detected, the molecular beacons wrap themselves around the amplified target nucleic acids, which provide a blueprint of what is occurring in cells, changing their shape and shining a light to signal the presence of the virus.

Molecular beacons are added to the solutions in which clinical assays are carried out, and the reaction tubes are sealed before amplification of the target occurs. The test tubes are never opened again and the only things that leave the test tube are the differently colored fluorescent signals that indicate which target molecules are present. By virtue of the time it takes to generate those signals, the results indicate how abundant the different targets were in the original sample. Since the test tubes remain sealed, the amplified targets cannot escape to contaminate samples that have not yet been tested.

“As molecular diagnostic researchers, it is gratifying when you can help improve lives in a meaningful way, especially during times like these amid a global pandemic,” said Fred Russell Kramer, professor of microbiology, biochemistry and molecular genetics, Public Health Research Institute, New Jersey Medical School.