Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Gene by Microbeads Dielectrophoresis-based DNA Detection Method

Nucleic amplification tests (NATs) are sensitive and specific methods to diagnose infectious diseases. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the gold standard, but it requires expensive apparatus and regents because of fluorescent detection. This study performed a combination of a conventional PCR and microbeads dielectrophoresis (DEP)-based DNA detection method to detect the SARS-CoV-2 gene quantitatively. SARS-CoV-2 is a virus causing COVID-19 and has caused the pandemic worldwide. In the microbeads DEP-based DNA detection method, the amplified DNA, amplicon, is attached to microbeads, the amplicon-labeled microbeads are detected by dielectrophoretic impedance measurement. As a result, the technique demonstrated that same sensitivity as that of real-time PCR. Our method enables the cheap diagnosis of infectious disease instead of expensive real-time PCR.