With live sample in hand, scientists at TGen in Flagstaff working on new COVID-19 coronavirus test

Scientists at TGen in Flagstaff working on new COVID-19 coronavirus test

Now that they have a live sample of the virus, TGen scientists are hoping to have a COVID-19 coronavirus test approved by the FDA soon. FOX 10's Nicole Garcia reports.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - An Arizona company is working to develop a test to detect the COVID-19 coronavirus.

TGen in Flagstaff now has the virus in its research lab. This could make testing more widely available for hospitals and doctors.

Now that they have a live sample of the virus, TGen scientists have sprung into action, dissecting it in the lab. They are working to get a new test approved by the FDA, which would allow them to help state health officials diagnose patients.

With positive samples, they'd go further and create a genetic sequence.

"Which means we go into the RNA, which is like the DNA of the virus, and look for any mutations. Understand what strain of the virus is there," said David Engelthaler, Co-Director and Associate Professor of the Pathogen and Microbiome Division at TGen North.

TGen is currently working on a sample from the state's second confirmed COVID-19 coronavirus patient, identified as a man in his 20s from Scottsdale.

Scientists can only work with the live sample of the virus in the small lab. As a Bio-safety Level Three lab, it is the safest place for scientists to handle the virus. By creating a genome of the virus, TGen scientists can even figure out where a patient may have been exposed, and gather other details.

"Like in Washington state, where they identified the first community spread, they used this whole genome sequencing and compared it to all the other viruses out there," said Engelthaler. "That's exactly what were doing here in Arizona."

TGen scientists are blazing a trail when it comes to researching the novel coronavirus, which recently mutated from an animal virus to a human virus in China.

"This is a brand-new virus," said Engelthaler. "We're just starting to learn how is it adapting to humans, and its still learning about humans, so we don't know where this is going."

TGen hopes to get FDA approval of its new diagnostic test by the end of next week.