Test for antibodies against novel coronavirus developed at Stanford Medicine

Working around the clock for two weeks, a large team of Stanford Medicine scientists has developed a test to detect antibodies against the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, in blood samples. In contrast to current diagnostic tests for COVID-19, which detect genetic material from the virus in respiratory secretions, this test looks for antibodies to the virus in plasma, the liquid in blood, to provide information about a person’s immune response to an infection. The effort has been led by Scott Boyd, MD, PhD, associate professor of pathology and a leading expert in antibody research.

“It’s essential to have the right tools to understand the biology of the novel coronavirus,” said Lloyd Minor, MD, dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine. “This test takes us one step closer to answering the many public health questions about COVID-19.”

The research results are published in this article.

Read the full article at Stanford News.