The rTEST COVID-19 qPCR kit is an innovative, improved, re-designed and proprietary version of the WHO-recommended Charité, Berlin protocol. The kit contains three sets of primers and TaqMan® probes targeting the SARS-CoV-2 specific E and RdRP genes and human RNase P. For E and RdRP genes, we developed dual TaqMan® probes to increase the sensitivity and specificity of our 1-Step RT-qPCR method. The 5X One-step Probe CoV Mix (ROX) reagent from Solis BioDyne includes ROX passive reference dye with a unique molecular structure allowing our RT-qPCR method to be compatible with all ROX-dependent and ROX-independent real-time PCR cyclers.
A single kit is sufficient for 400 testing reactions and also offers flexibility in testing by permitting either single gene screening or precision dual gene diagnostics. E or RdRP gene (based on the end-user preference) can be exclusively used for 400 screening tests. This option is recommended when many symptomatic patients have to be screened at once. The precision dual gene option is based on running 200 screening assays first (E or RdRP gene) followed by 200 confirmation assays to confirm positive screening results (E or RdRP gene) or eliminate false-positive results. In addition, conducting an internal control assay for human RNase P assesses appropriate swab collection and RNA extraction, while eliminating false-negative results. Thus, for the precision dual gene diagnostics workflow, two testing reactions should be performed per one patient and this option is recommended when precision testing is essential.
