Aptamer based diagnosis: A cost-effective and suitable point of care testing method against sars coronavirus-2 (sars-cov-2) and other rapidly spreading diseases

ABSTRACT

The current SARS coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has raised serious concerns regarding the inefficiency of available diagnostic methods for rapid and efficient detection of the disease. It is agreed widely that Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and antibody-based assays have several limitations that did not help much in preventing the exponential spread of the disease in a short span of period. Unarguably, the world needs “new-generation diagnostic intervention(s)” against rapidly spreading disease like SARS-CoV-2. We have presented an aptamer-based strategy as a possible point of care testing for the diagnosis of the disease. It has several advantages over current tools available and can be used for efficient combating by the mean of quick,cost-effective and much more accurate diagnostic against the enigmatic SARS-CoV-2 disease and similar pandemic which world may possibly encounter in the future.