The present invention relates to a method for determining presence of a pre-determined nucleic acid sequence in a sample, the method comprising the steps of adding one or more enzyme(s) providing activities of RNA- and/or DNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity and strand-displacement activity to the sample to be analysed for the presence of the pre-determined nucleic acid sequence; adding at least five DNA primers to the sample to be analysed for the presence of the pre-determined nucleic acid sequence, wherein at least one DNA primer comprises a sequence hybridisable to the nucleic acid sequence and at least one DNA primer comprises a sequence hybridisable to the DNA sequence reverse-complementary to the nucleic acid sequence; incubating the sample resulting at a fixed temperature; determining whether an elongated DNA sequence is present in the sample, wherein presence of the elongated DNA sequence in the sample is indicative of the presence of the pre-determined nucleic acid sequence in the sample, wherein the sample is obtained from an animal and wherein no F3 primer is used.

The invention provides a method for detecting the presence of a target nucleic acid analyte, for example a pathogen or virus nucleic acid, in a sample using oligonucleotide probe-functionalised nanoparticles, where hybridisation of at least three different oligonucleotide probes to at least three different target sequences in the target analyte causes agglomeration of the nanoparticles and a visible colour change. The invention also provides a population of such oligonucleotide probe-functionalised nanoparticles and a related kit for detection of a target nucleic acid analyte.

Provided herein are compositions, methods, and kits for detecting human picobirnavims (PBV). In certain embodiments, provided herein are PBV specific nucleic acid probes and primers, and methods for detecting PBV nucleic acid.

This invention relates generally to compositions and methods for administering an anellovector (e.g., a synthetic anellovector) that can be used as a delivery vehicle, e.g., for delivering genetic material, for delivering an effector, e.g., a payload, or for delivering a therapeutic agent or a therapeutic effector to a eukaryotic cell (e.g., a human cell or a human tissue). Also provided are methods for amplifying circular nucleic acids comprising Anellovirus sequences.

The invention relates to the use of a polysaccharide having at least four saccharide units, such as stachyose, as a glass-forming agent for the freeze-drying of a reaction mixture comprising an enzyme. In particular, the enzyme is a polymerase useful in a nucleic acid amplification reaction such as a Polymerase Chain Reaction.

Compositions comprising such polysaccharides as well as methods for preparing them, kits containing them and methods for using them form further aspects of the invention.

Provided is an integrated microfluidic device for SARS-CoV-2 detection. Also provided is a method for detecting SARS-CoV-2 by using the same, comprising viral lysis, RNA extraction, and reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP). The integrated microfluidic device of the present disclosure is small in size, automatically operatable, and easy to use by ordinary people, and the present disclosure can achieve rapid detection with high sensitivity and specificity.

The invention provides systems and methods for analyzing viruses by representing viral genetic diversity with a directed acyclic graph (DAG), which allows genetic sequencing technology to detect rare variations and represent otherwise difficult-to-document diversity within a sample. Additionally, a host-specific sequence DAG can be used to effectively segregate viral nucleic acid sequence reads from host sequence reads when a sample from a host is subject to sequencing. Known viral genomes can be represented using a viral reference DAG and the viral sequence reads from the sample can be compared to viral DAG to identify viral species or strains from which the reads were derived. Where the viral sequence reads indicate great genetic diversity in the virus that was infecting the host, those reads can be assembled into a DAG that itself properly represents that diversity.

The invention provides systems and methods for analyzing viruses by representing viral genetic diversity with a directed acyclic graph (DAG), which allows genetic sequencing technology to detect rare variations and represent otherwise difficult-to-document diversity within a sample. Additionally, a host-specific sequence DAG can be used to effectively segregate viral nucleic acid sequence reads from host sequence reads when a sample from a host is subject to sequencing. Known viral genomes can be represented using a viral reference DAG and the viral sequence reads from the sample can be compared to viral DAG to identify viral species or strains from which the reads were derived. Where the viral sequence reads indicate great genetic diversity in the virus that was infecting the host, those reads can be assembled into a DAG that itself properly represents that diversity.

Provided herein is a method for detecting the presence of clade variants in the COVID-19 virus in a human sample and/or an environmental sample. Samples are processed to obtain total RNA. The RNA is used as a template in a combined reverse transcription and amplification reaction to obtain fluorescent COVID-19 virus amplicons. These amplicons are hybridized on a microarray with nucleic acid probes having sequences that discriminate among the various clade variants. The microarray is imaged to detect the clade variant and each clade variant is distinguished from others by generating an intensity distribution profile from the image, which is unique to each of the clade variants.

Provided herein is a method for detecting the presence of clade variants in the COVID-19 virus in a human sample and/or an environmental sample. Samples are processed to obtain total RNA. The RNA is used as a template in a combined reverse transcription and amplification reaction to obtain fluorescent COVID-19 virus amplicons. These amplicons are hybridized on a microarray with nucleic acid probes having sequences that discriminate among the various clade variants. The microarray is imaged to detect the clade variant and each clade variant is distinguished from others by generating an intensity distribution profile from the image, which is unique to each of the clade variants.