Molecular diagnostic assays for COVID-19: an overview

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the cardinal importance of rapid and accurate diagnostic assays. Since the early days of the outbreak, researchers with different scientific backgrounds across the globe have tried to fulfill the urgent need for such assays, with many assays having been approved and with others still undergoing clinical validation. Molecular diagnostic assays are a major group of tests used to diagnose COVID-19. Currently, the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is the most widely used method. Other diagnostic molecular methods, including CRISPR-based assays, isothermal nucleic acid amplification methods, digital PCR, microarray assays, and next generation sequencing (NGS), are promising alternatives. In this review, we summarize the technical and clinical applications of the different COVID-19 molecular diagnostic assays and suggest directions for the implementation of such technologies in future infectious disease outbreaks.

Keywords:

• Coronavirus
• SARS-CoV-2
• COVID-19
• molecular diagnostic techniques
• nucleic acid amplification techniques

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Milad Sharifpour (Emory School of Medicine), and Dr. Paul Rutland (retired researcher, University College London), for their invaluable comments. The schematic representations used in the figures were created using BioRender (BioRender.com).

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.