A study by Ben-Gurion University developed tests capable of detecting variants from the UK and South Africa in a short time • The method was successfully tested in Be'er Sheva
Corona Laboratory
Photo:
Eyal Margolin / Ginny
Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have developed a method for identifying British and South African corona mutations in sewage.
Current tests for corona mutations are expensive and lengthy.
Researchers from the Department of Biotechnology Engineering in the Negev capital have developed a cost-effective and fast PCR-based test - a test we are already familiar with from the HMOs, only this time the version of the virus can be successfully identified within a few hours.
In several cities throughout Israel, the method of detecting corona virus in sewage has been used and this is not new.
However, Dr. Karin Yaniv and Dr. Eden Ozer, under the guidance of Prof. Ariel Kushmero of the Ben-Gurion Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory, have developed a rapid testing method based on a missing region of the encoded gene that differentiates versions from the original corona virus strain.
Sewage that is positive for the virus can also accurately indicate the presence of this or that mutation and even provide information about the relationship between the virus and the mutations in a given geographical area.
Prof. Ariel Kushmero explained in an interview with Israel Today that "the development makes it possible to give early warning of the outbreak of the plague. Now that everyone is vaccinated, we can know and give early warning. Through the sewage it can be done that it is not new, but we managed to develop this method. The variants, the British and the South African, give a warning and also know how much we have in terms of quantity, how many there are of each variant. "
A successful experiment in Be'er Sheva
The tests in the study were performed on the basis of sewage samples from the city of Beer Sheva.
The tests successfully revealed the British version of the virus.
"Now we can say that in Be'er Sheva the British variant is dominant. Until January there was only the first variant and after January it was replaced. Now there is only the British in Be'er Sheva - and in most of the country. However, we did not find any discoveries of the South African in the sewage. Kushmero added.
The study was supported by a scientific action force for the study of the corona virus at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the Ministry of Health.
Dr. Yaniv and Prof. Kushmero from the Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory in the Department of Biotechnology Engineering named after Abram and Stella Goldstein-Goren, and Dr. Ozer from the Department of Life Sciences took part in the study.
The researchers Noam Plotkin and Nicole Shoresh Benderker, all from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, also participated in the study.