• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Español
  • English
  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
CDE Almería – Centro de Documentación Europea – Universidad de Almería

CDE Almería - Centro de Documentación Europea - Universidad de Almería

Centro de Documentación Europea de la Universidad de Almería

  • HOME
  • WHAT´S ON
    • EU BULLETINS
    • EU NEWS
    • Activities
    • EU Calls and Awards
    • Radio Program «Europe with You»
  • DOCUMENTATION
    • Bibliographic Collection
      • Almería EDC Digital Collection
      • UNIVERSITY OF ALMERIA LIBRARY
    • Documentation by topic
    • EU Media Collection
      • Web Space
      • MEDIATHEQUE REPOSITORY
  • Europe on the net
    • Institutions
    • EU Representation in Spain
    • European information network of Andalusia
    • EU official journal
  • ABOUT US
    • Presentation
    • People
    • Contact

Efficient tracing of Omicron with new PCR test

Inicio » EU News » Health » Diseases » Efficient tracing of Omicron with new PCR test

03-01-2022

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre has developed a new detection method specific for the Omicron variant. The method has been successfully validated in silico, based on bioinformatics. The JRC now invites control laboratories worldwide to validate it in vivo on clinical samples.

Following the recent emergence of a new SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern, Omicron, in southern Africa, and with first cases reported in the European Union and in the UK, tracing the virus and monitoring its spread are key to deploy effective countermeasures.

The Omicron variant differs quite significantly from other variants in that Omicron is characterised by more than 50 nucleic acid changes from the reference SARS-CoV-2 sequence, which could potentially challenge the detection of the virus. Concerns have arisen that the new variant could be even more transmissible than the Delta one.

The JRC has therefore quickly developed a new detection method specific for the Omicron variant. The method is based on the widely used RT-qPCR technique, and successfully detects the Omicron variant in silico.

It is a very quick test easy to do, quicker than the sequencing and other methods now available. RT-PCR is simple to set up in any biotech laboratory that can conduct PCR assays.

Bioinformatics prediction tests demonstrate that the sequences in the primer sets are highly accurate, and do not match the genetic sequences of other viruses, including other coronaviruses or SARS-CoV- 2 variants. The JRC has directly shared this new method with EU policymakers and with the scientific community to help speed up the monitoring of the spread of the Omicron variant globally, in what is essentially a race against time.

The JRC now invites control laboratories worldwide to assess it in vivo on clinical samples and to report results back to the authors in order to improve the test if needed.

Methodology

The majority of the changes characterising the Omicron variant are found in the gene encoding for the Spike glycoprotein. The spike protein is a key structure that facilitates the viral entry to human cells. It is also the target of mRNA- and viral vector-based vaccines.

By inspecting the spike protein encoding regions of all Omicron-flagged complete sequences, JRC scientists identified a target region with a unique and Omicron-specific cluster of nucleic acid sequence.

Only mutations present in at least 80% of the analysed sequences were retained to define a set of commonly shared mutations. Using this region, JRC scientists designed a variant-specific set of primers to be used as real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) Omicron detection method, called OmMet.

More information

EU Science Hub – News

Publicaciones relacionadas:

The University of Almeria and Torrecardenas Hospital are working together against Covid-19 The European Commission will address the issue of Coronavirus at its meeting on 5th March Statement by the President of the ECB about Covid-19 COVID-19: UN releases US$15 million to help vulnerable countries to combat coronavirus ECB announces operational precautions linked to coronavirus

“This is a space for debate. All comments, for or against publication, that are respectful and do not contain expressions that are discriminatory, defamatory or contrary to current legislation will be published”.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Publicaciones relacionadas

The University of Almeria and Torrecardenas Hospital are working together against Covid-19 The European Commission will address the issue of Coronavirus at its meeting on 5th March Statement by the President of the ECB about Covid-19 COVID-19: UN releases US$15 million to help vulnerable countries to combat coronavirus ECB announces operational precautions linked to coronavirus

Footer

Logotipo en negativo del Centro de Documentación Europea de Almería

CDE Almería
Edificio Parque Científico-Tecnológico (Pita)
Planta: 1ª, Despacho: 29
04120. Ctra. Sacramento s/n. Almería (Spain)
Teléfono: (+34) 950 015266

HOME
NEWS
DOCUMENTATION
EUROPE ON THE NET
ABOUT US

LEGAL NOTICE
PRIVACY POLICY
COOKIE POLICY
ACCESSIBILITY

SITEMAP
HELP CENTER

Copyright © 2022 CDE Almería · Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

<p>El Centro de Documentación Europea de la Universidad de Almería utiliza cookies propias y de terceros para facilitar al usuario la navegación en su página Web y el acceso a los distintos contenidos alojados en la misma. Asimismo, se utilizan cookies analíticas de terceros para medir la interacción de los usuarios con el sitio Web. Pinche el siguiente enlace si desea información sobre el uso de cookies y como deshabilitarlas. ajustes</p>

Politica de privacidad

El Centro de Documentación Europea de la Universidad de Almería utiliza cookies propias y de terceros para facilitar al usuario la navegación en su página Web y el acceso a los distintos contenidos alojados en la misma. Asimismo, se utilizan cookies analíticas de terceros para medir la interacción de los usuarios con el sitio Web. Pinche el siguiente enlace si desea información sobre el uso de cookies y como deshabilitarlas. <a href="/politica-de-cookies" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Más información</a>

Cookies estrictamente necesarias

Las cookies estrictamente necesarias tiene que activarse siempre para que podamos guardar tus preferencias de ajustes de cookies.

Básicamente la web no funcionara bien si no las activas.

Estas cookies son:

  • Comprobación de inicio de sesión.
  • Cookies de seguridad.
  • Aceptación/rechazo previo de cookies.

Si desactivas esta cookie no podremos guardar tus preferencias. Esto significa que cada vez que visites esta web tendrás que activar o desactivar las cookies de nuevo.

Cookies de terceros

Esta web utiliza Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager y Yandex Metrika para recopilar información anónima tal como el número de visitantes del sitio, o las páginas más populares.

Dejar estas cookies activas nos permite mejorar nuestra web.

¡Por favor, activa primero las cookies estrictamente necesarias para que podamos guardar tus preferencias!

Política de cookies

Pinche el siguiente enlace si desea información sobre el uso de cookies y como deshabilitarlas. Más información