24/03/20 |   Research, Development and Innovation

Embrapa labs to perform Covid-19 testing

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Embrapa's research centers are making their structure in terms of equipment, products and personnel available to help conduct lab tests to identify Covid-19. The testing will rely on RT-PCR equipment often used in molecular biology studies.

The contribution responds to a request from the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply, which has been working in partnership with the Ministry of Health. Minister Tereza Cristina asked Embrapa to take stock of the laboratories that can perform RT-PCR testing and redirect their routine to the identification of the presence of coronavirus in biological samples. 

Embrapa's labs can be used during the stage of amplification and detection of coronavirus genetic material (single-stranded RNA) in the samples under analysis. The tests are supervised by the Ministry of Health, jointly with institutions like the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) and the Adolfo Lutz Institute. 

The setup at Embrapa indicates capacity to employ 47 laboratories. Their structures are generally used for tasks like detecting genes of agronomic interest in plants, animals and microorganisms and they can adapt to the stipulation from the Ministry of Health. Based on the infrastructure available, Embrapa can potentially contribute to 43,000 analyses per day.  

The research corporation has also been collaborating with Fiocruz to perform Chikungunya, dengue and Zika virus detection tests with the same technology, in order to relieve the pressure on the public health system.

Translation: Mariana Medeiros

Secretariat of Intelligence and Strategic Relations (Sire)

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Further information on the topic
Citizen Attention Service (SAC)
www.embrapa.br/contact-us/sac/

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