DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Lab leads research on COVID-19 test kits

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, in collaboration with the University of Washington, analyzed kits that could be used as a critical part of a laboratory test used to detect the COVID-19 virus in a sample from an infected person.

“We are pleased the DOE labs, their user facilities and their scientific talent are partnering in the whole of government response to COVID-19,” Chris Fall, director of DOE’s Office of Science and DOE’s head of the agency’s response to COVID-19, said. “The rapid response by the NVBL consortium, and by PNNL in particular, to this FEMA request will make a material difference in the nation’s COVID-19 testing capacity.”

The team’s work addresses severe shortages of extraction reagents. The scientists studied the ability of the kits to extract the RNA from the virus, a process that makes the virus easier to measure. It confirmed that the kits inactivate the virus – making it safe for widespread testing and analysis. Proper extraction of the virus from a sample is a critical step in the testing process. Labs cannot test patients without these kits. By showing that additional kits can be used for COVID-19 testing, access, and availability of diagnostic testing will be improved.

“In our testing laboratory, we had to develop and follow procedures for maintaining social distancing,” Kristin Omberg, the PNNL scientist who is leading the team, said. “We’ve actually used three separate laboratories, with tape on the floors to indicate each person’s workspace. It was a huge team effort to deliver these results in a timely manner. But we’ve talked to a lot of labs in Washington and elsewhere that are struggling to keep up with the demand for testing because they can’t get supplies, and we really wanted to help them. It’s incredibly gratifying for our team to see this work having a national-level impact.”

PNNL and UW have collaborated on numerous research projects over the years.