A Protocol for Simple, Rapid, and Direct Detection of SARS-CoV-2 from clinical samples, using Reverse Transcribed Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (RT-LAMP)

Rawi Naddaf; Nadav Ben-Assa; Tal Gefen; Tal Capucha; Haitham Hajjo; Noa Mandelbaum; Lilach Elbaum; Shai Kaplan; Assaf Rotem; Michal Chowers; Moran Szwarcwort-Cohen; Mical Paul; Naama Geva-Zatorsky

doi:10.21769/BioProtoc.3789

A Protocol for Simple, Rapid, and Direct Detection of SARS-CoV-2 from clinical samples, using Reverse Transcribed Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (RT-LAMP)

Bio Protoc. 2020 Oct 20;10(20):e3789. doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.3789.

Authors

Rawi Naddaf¹, Nadav Ben-Assa¹, Tal Gefen¹, Tal Capucha^{1

2}, Haitham Hajjo^{1

3

4}, Noa Mandelbaum¹, Lilach Elbaum¹, Shai Kaplan⁵, Assaf Rotem⁶, Michal Chowers^{7

8}, Moran Szwarcwort-Cohen⁹, Mical Paul¹⁰, Naama Geva-Zatorsky^{1

11}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cell Biology and Cancer Science, Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Technion Integrated Cancer Center (TICC), Haifa, 3525433, Israel.
² Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department, Rambam Medical Care Center, Haifa, 3525433, Israel.
³ Department of Immunology, Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
⁴ Department of Neuroscience, Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
⁵ Robiotec ltd 9 Aharonwitz st. Rehovot, 7634709, Israel.
⁶ 47 Bow Rd, Newton MA 02459, USA.
⁷ Infectious Diseases Unit, Meir Medical Center, Kfar Saba, Israel.
⁸ Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
⁹ Virology Laboratory, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel.
¹⁰ Division of Infectious Diseases, Rambam Health Care Center and Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
¹¹ Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Azrieli Global Scholar, MaRS Centre, West Tower 661 University Ave., Suite 505 Toronto, ON M5G 1M1, Canada.

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 has quickly spread all around the globe causing illness and wide damages. Most countries were unprepared for such a rapid spread and crisis. This led to various strategies for effective control of the new pandemic. A key aspect in all countries was to effectively test the population for the virus. Most countries chose a lockdown strategy in which many workplaces and activities are completely closed, leading to substantial economy costs. Here, we present a protocol we recently developed that allows rapid and simple detection of SARS-CoV-2 for the large population, eliminating costs and involvement of professional teams and laboratories. This protocol is based on Reverse Transcribed Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (RT-LAMP). We tested this protocol directly on patient samples, both nasal and throat clinical swabs as well as saliva. Notably, this protocol is simple, cheap and can be easily applied to other pathogens as well.

Keywords: Colorimetric; Covid-19; Isothermal; Pandemic; RT-LAMP; Rapid molecular Detection; SARS-CoV-2; Saliva..