Magnetic nanoparticles for Covid-19 testing in practical applications

Posted date: 20 Jul 2020

Miniature particles with a magnetic core and a thin silica shell on the surface to isolate viral RNA developed by scientists at the Regional Centre of Advanced Technology and Materials (RCPTM), the Faculty of Science, are now being translated into commercial applications. Commercial companies have already purchased first batches of the magnetic balls for diagnostic purposes. Nanoparticles are an important part of the new Covid-19 testing technology designed at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry (IOCB) of the Czech Academy of Sciences, whose help was fundamental at the time of the culminating coronavirus pandemic.

The development of the testing protocol was a response to the lack of commercial test kits at a time of the coronavirus crisis. RCPTM’s researchers responded quickly to the demand of colleagues at IOCB. Thanks to extensive experience with research into nanomaterials for biomedical applications, they prepared, within a couple of days, a new type of magnetic nanoballs, dozens of nanometers in size, with a suitably modified surface to isolate nucleic acids.

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