South Korea is currently going through another COVID-19 crisis. With the increasing number of confirmed cases – exceeding 250,000 new cases a day, since March 3rd – the Korean government has changed the quarantine guidelines. From the beginning of March, the so-called vaccine pass was temporarily suspended, and a self-quarantine period is not required for the cohabitants of the infected. Moreover, the public screening center no longer offers PCR tests for COVID-19. Instead, people have to use a self-test kit or take a rapid antigen test, both of which are relatively less accurate than the PCR test. If one wants to take a PCR test, first, one would have to test positive using the previous methods.

As the new semester begins, schools and universities in Korea have to decide how to operate their classes. In the case of the University of Soul (UOS), both in-person classes and online classes are operated together, which is decided by the number of students taking classes. A lot of people in Korea are nervous that this crisis will remain unsolved if the infected are not detected on time, but tests that can specify the confirmed cases have become hard to take.
In this situation, one of the research teams in UOS devised a new way of detecting the COVID-19 virus, using only smartphone accessories. This new form of test is drawing many people’s attention because there is a possibility that it can be used in other pandemic situations.

This platform was invented by a research team led by one of the professors of UOS, Professor Lee Jong-bum. Two UOS graduate students initially started the research, and Professor Lee was leading them as an academic adviser. The UOS Times interviewed Professor Lee to find out more about this state-of-art research.

Q. Please introduce the new diagnostic platform to our readers.
A. This diagnostic method uses the characteristics of viruses proliferating using RNA, such as coronavirus. It detects the activity of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP), which is specifically produced and present only in cells infected with coronavirus, to determine whether the virus has infected the host body. More precisely, we used a method of changing the color of the diagnostic kit by RNA strands newly generated by an enzyme called RdRP. RdRP is an enzyme that is not found in normal human cells; thus, research has been conducted with the concept that it can be used to determine whether the virus has infected the host body.

Q. How can the protein component be detected by digital devices?
A. This diagnostic kit does not check for infection through conventional antigen-antibody reactions but rather checks the presence or absence of RdRP by adding new RNA strands through enzyme action on the surface of the membrane structure. One can check the color changes with naked eye. However, smartphones can be used for more accurate diagnosis by detecting these color changes more sensitively than human eyes. 

Q. What is the difference between this platform and other diagnostic tests such as PCR, self-test kit, and the rapid antigen test?
A. In the case of currently developed tests, such as PCR tests or rapid antigen tests, when various mutant viruses occur, new designs and re-verification of diagnostic kits are essential. However, the biggest difference is that this platform we developed can determine the presence or absence of RNA virus infection with one diagnostic kit for any new or modified RNA viruses without a new design or re-verification process. I think this universal diagnostic kit can solve the problem of supplying diagnostic kits that are insufficient during the pandemic in which new mutant viruses spread rapidly.

Q. It can be assumed that this new way of detecting the virus can be used in other pandemic situations in the future. How can it be applied effectively?
A. As mentioned above, the RNA structure-based platform is a universal detection system that can be applied – limited to RNA viruses – regardless of the type or mutation of the virus. If this diagnostic technology is used in future pandemic situations, faster diagnosis and response will be possible.

Q. What was the biggest obstacle while your team was working on this platform?
A. Most viral infection diagnoses are based on PCR and antigen-antibody binding. Therefore, there were not a lot of materials or documents available to find information and to refer to our ideas. In addition, this research result was a study that presented a completely new paradigm in virus diagnosis technology, so it was hard to verify the process for the results.

Q. After all the trials and errors, your team made a huge accomplishment and that inspired a lot of people. Is there anything you want to share more about the research process?
A. As an advisor in charge, I considered the overall direction of the study, but the efforts of graduate students Kim Da-jeong and Han Sang-woo, who experimented, allowed this study to bear fruit. As with most studies, this research is also produced by students who silently conducted it, so I am very grateful to them. Moreover, not every research ends successfully, but our team kept going through the process and was fortunate to get meaningful results.

This new platform certainly has many great features. First of all, it can reduce the costs of re-developing diagnosis kits for mutant viruses. As mentioned above, the way of detecting enzymes is well-applicable to other pandemic situations, as long as they are RNA viruses. Second, diagnosis testing will take much less time to figure out the confirmed cases by using this platform. 

The change of color can be seen with the naked eye, or more accurately, with smartphones; thus, people no longer need to wait for one to two days to see the test result. If this new way of detecting viruses gets popular, it will be able to prevent other viruses from being widespread, and eventually prevent another pandemic. It can also be expected that with this platform, the Korean government could control another crisis and reduce the costs of the process to define confirmed cases. Through this article, The UOS Times would like to convey deep appreciation to Professor Lee, graduate students Kim Da-jeong and Han Sang-woo for their endeavor to create this platform. Their work will be remembered and surely will be used properly in the future. 

Kim Da-eun 
daeunkim749@uos.ac.kr