Serbian coronavirus test expected by the fall

Serbian coronavirus test expected by the fall

It could replace the current test from abroad, RTS reports, adding that the Serbian test for coronavirus is expected by the fall.

As he explains, the tests that are currently available to Serbian citizens are done on the basis of imported proteins. Sometimes in the production of tests, there is a problem with the import of materials because many European manufacturers work only for the domestic market.

That is why the cooperation of Institute for Application of Nuclear Energy (INEP) with the Faculty of Chemistry, which produces material based on domestic proteins, has recently commenced, so our test is expected by the fall, which could replace the current one.

"This means that we will have completely domestic tests that will produce all the components in our country. Three professors with their research groups are working on it. In the Department of Biochemistry, out of maybe 45 researchers and teachers, about 35 teachers are engaged in the project," notes Tanja Ćirović from the Faculty of Chemistry.

About 250 researchers are working on the coronavirus research and analysis needed to test citizens. There is also a dedicated expert working group consisting of scientists from all over Serbia, and their goal is to intensively monitor the results of research in the country and the world.

Among other things, these teams point out the importance of producing domestic serological ELISA (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) tests that have been in use in our country since June 1, so that citizens can do a quick test at their personal request, which determines the presence of antibodies to coronavirus in a few hours.

Citizens can also find out in this way whether they have been infected with the virus and whether they have created antibodies.

"The institute has developed a domestic antibody detection test, ELISA test that detects antibodies to the presence of the virus. Our test is based on imported antigen and other test components produced at our institute. We applied for another project that would allow it to be practically developed. completely domestic test, which would mean that the antigen is being developed in Serbia, i.e. at the Chemical Institute ", Marija Gnjatović from INEP said.

As it is stated, the production of domestic tests may not be cheaper than the imported ones, but the citizens of Serbia will be safer, which means that they will not think about whether there are enough tests.

Tests, whether domestic or foreign, contribute to determining the degree of resistance of the population to coronavirus, and will be important for the development of vaccines.

The Institute says that the coronavirus is still quite unknown because it is not clear whether permanent or short-term immunity is created.

A higher amount of antibodies does not mean higher resistance to a virus, but people who have them can be used as donors for potential plasma therapy, RTS concludes.