Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings
Methods and Systems for Detection of Pathogens

Abstract:

Disclosed are methods, compositions and systems for detecting the presence or absence of a pathogen in a sample. The method may include the steps of obtaining a sample from the subject and treating the sample with heat to inactivate any pathogen present in the sample. The method may further include the step of treating the sample to concentrate any pathogen present in the sample. Also, the method may include isolate a pathogen-specific nucleic acid from the heat-inactivated sample and detecting the presence or absence of the isolated pathogen-specific nucleic acid. In certain embodiments, the methods and/or systems may be used to detect SARS-CoV-2. The method may employ real time RT-PCR to provide results in about 3 hours or less.