The Institute of Human Genetics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poznań has launched the COVID-19 Diagnostic Laboratory. Such an activity of the Institute is a response to special needs and social challenges related to the current epidemiological situation.
The COVID-19 Diagnostics Laboratory was established in a specially renovated part of the Institute and equipped with appropriate apparatus, equipment and materials. The laboratory rooms have a separate entrance, with a complete bypass of the Institute’s communication routes. The rooms and equipment meet all relevant biosafety requirements. The team of people who carry out research in the COVID-19 Laboratory are volunteers-scientific workers of IGC PAS, among them are certified laboratory diagnosticians, specialists in laboratory medical genetics and clinical genetics. They have specialist knowledge in the field of molecular diagnostics of human diseases, molecular biology techniques and genetic material processing.
The laboratory can work 24 hours a day and eventually perform up to 450 tests per day. Samples for testing will be directed, after initial preparation, by the Provincial Sanitary and Epidemiological Station in Poznan. Initially, the Laboratory will work on the basis of commercial diagnostic tests, however, we are already developing our own test to enable the diagnostic procedure to be conducted at a lower cost. We are also working on a completely innovative technological approach to coronavirus RNA detection, which may significantly simplify COVID-19 diagnostics and shorten the waiting time for test results.
The function of the Director’s Proxy for Coronavirus Diagnostics and Research is performed by Professor Andrzej Pławski.
