SwabSeq: A Solution for Large-Scale COVID-19 Testing

At the October 2021 Innovation Hour, Hertz Fellow Leonid Kruglyak will discuss SwabSeq, a high-throughput test that uses molecular barcodes and genome sequencing technology to test thousands of samples at a time with high sensitivity and specificity.

Kruglyak, a distinguished professor of human genetics and biological chemistry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, teamed up with several other basic scientists at UCLA to develop SwabSeq during spring 2020. The team received FDA Emergency Use Authorization in October 2020, obtained regulatory approval from the California Department of Public Health, and has performed over 150,000 tests.

SwabSeq enables population-wide testing at a scale needed to stem the pandemic and is currently being used for asymptomatic screening at UCLA and other schools, colleges, and universities. The protocol is flexible and can rapidly scale up testing for novel pathogens, including future emerging viruses.

This Hertz Foundation Innovation Hour will take place live on Wednesday, October 13, 2021, from 12:00–1:00 p.m. Pacific, using the Zoom video conference platform. You can attend on a desktop, mobile device, or by phone. Please register using the form below, and we'll email you the Zoom meeting information.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.