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We’re working on 1M Covid-19 testing capacity per day

billiontoone.com

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Re: We’re working on 1M Covid-19 testing capacity per day

#141

Post by phantom0308 »

s_y_n_t_a_x wrote: post #94
cheriot wrote: post #37

This would be HUGE. Not only has the testing capacity in America been maxed out, but the % of positive results has been more than 20% and trending upward. In order to quarantine effectively (read: end the shut down) we need to test the family, coworkers, and contacts of every positive result.

Testing has been ramping up https://covidtracking.com/data/us-daily

It's plateaued and has been hovering around 100k per day for 2 weeks (outside California clearing its backlog on 4/4). The White House promised 27M by 3/31 and we were at 1M. It doesn't look like it's ramping up.

Re: We’re working on 1M Covid-19 testing capacity per day

#142

Post by karmelapple »

dvdt wrote: post #2

I'm the co-founder and CTO at BillionToOne. I'm happy to answer any questions here. I've also posted a slightly more technical explanation of how the test works and why it can scale here: https://twitter.com/dtsao/status/1247642005510873088?s=21 Edit: Since our site seems to be overwhelmed at the moment, here's a recap: We’ve been working hard at BillionToOne on a new COVID-19 test that scales testing to everyone in…

Hello! Your website says:

“Most qPCR instruments have low throughput (they can run 1- 48 samples at a time) and they all compete for the same reagents.”

Is it more accurate to say that FDA-approved qPCR machines can run up to 48 samples at a time?

Most qPCR machines can handle 96 samples at a time, and there are versions that go as high as 384 at a time.

The FDA has only approved qPCR machines that go up to 48, correct? Do you know why they’re not running on the more parallel machines?

Thanks!

Re: We’re working on 1M Covid-19 testing capacity per day

#144

Post by onion2k »

zepto wrote: post #20
dvdt wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for letting me know about the site! This is a test to see if someone has a current COVID-19 infection. The antibody tests (serological) tests are also important, but since it is estimated that only ~1% of the US has previously contracted COVID-19, it will be a while before serological testing becomes useful at a population level. Our initial data show no false-positives and no false-negatives out of all specim…

Dismissing the value of serological testing seems like a self-serving move. Such tests are immediately of very high value because they allow us to understand immunity to Covid-19, and to actually validate the estimates of cases amongst those who haven’t sought treatment. These are both of huge value regardless of the percentage of the US population estimate to have previously contracted Covid-19. By all means market…

Serological tests are useful and needed right now, not at some future stage.

It takes about a month before an antibody test is accurate in someone who has had a virus, so using them now would only detect cases where the person had the virus in early March. That limits the value of serological testing considerably.

Re: We’re working on 1M Covid-19 testing capacity per day

#145

Post by DrScump »

dvdt wrote: post #2

I'm the co-founder and CTO at BillionToOne. I'm happy to answer any questions here. I've also posted a slightly more technical explanation of how the test works and why it can scale here: https://twitter.com/dtsao/status/1247642005510873088?s=21 Edit: Since our site seems to be overwhelmed at the moment, here's a recap: We’ve been working hard at BillionToOne on a new COVID-19 test that scales testing to everyone in…

Do your tests distinguish between active (infectious) SARS-CoV-2 DNA and remnants that aren't infectious by themselves?

Do they detect antibodies?

What is the false negative rate for nasal swabs vs anal swabs?

Re: We’re working on 1M Covid-19 testing capacity per day

#146

Post by freepor »

mrkurt wrote: post #100
freepor wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, you have explicit permission to do this ahead of time, from the user?

dang has built up a ton of trust from yc founders, and hopefully from HN commenters. We love when he improves our HN posts.

I would not love it if he improved my post, so I am glad to have the clarification that this is only done to YC-affiliated commenters and with at a minimum some kind of implicit buy-in from them.

Re: We’re working on 1M Covid-19 testing capacity per day

#147

Post by mjul »

abhisuri97 wrote: post #53
dvdt wrote: post #2

I'm the co-founder and CTO at BillionToOne. I'm happy to answer any questions here. I've also posted a slightly more technical explanation of how the test works and why it can scale here: https://twitter.com/dtsao/status/1247642005510873088?s=21 Edit: Since our site seems to be overwhelmed at the moment, here's a recap: We’ve been working hard at BillionToOne on a new COVID-19 test that scales testing to everyone in…

Hey, lowly Bio undergrad here, but how are you able to skip the RNA extraction step? I read the paper and you use the viral transport medium, but wouldn't you have to also purify RNA from that (or is it just much easier to extract RNA from that medium)? I also dived into the paper behind the "skip the RNA extraction step" methodology and it basically seems to swap out one RNA extraction kit for another (Qiagen RNeasy…

The RNA extraction can also be done without reagents by using a heat reaction on the sample similar to boiling an egg. It is a 5-minute process.

According to an older scientist, Anders Fomsgaard at the Danish Serum Institute, this is how they did it ”in the old days”. He is the father of one of the authors.

This eliminates supply chain problems for reagents and was shared quickly to help in Spain.

Preprint by Fomsgaard and Rosenstierne:

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.27.20044495v...

Re: We’re working on 1M Covid-19 testing capacity per day

#148

Post by platyp »

Robotbeat wrote: post #131
mike_d wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These studies were done well in advance. Every bit of research we have about the 1918 Influenza points to social isolation being the only effective way to combat a pandemic.

South Korea shows that test and trace works just as good or better than lockdowns. Which is why our failure to get high testing rates early on is such an utter travesty.

South Korea does not "tell" us any of that. The government did not force a lockdown, but massive voluntary social distancing occurred anyway.

Re: We’re working on 1M Covid-19 testing capacity per day

#149

Post by rkagerer »

dvdt wrote: post #111
mattmanser wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the UK they're saying there's a shortage of swabs and pipettes even, do you not need these too? Also, in the UK our independent and uni labs have been saying for almost a week they could extract the RNA differently but the NHS have a fixed approved way that they won't change. - Are the chemicals you're using more common or would there just be a new shortage of different chemicals? - Is there a risk you'd be creati…

Our technique would still be affected by shortages in specimen collection (like swabs). Purely speculative, but I think if swabs remain an issue for too long, alternatives could start coming online, such as even using qtips + saline (no idea if it works, it's just an example). The current swab + Universal / Viral Transport Medium combo is optimized for flexibility; it is designed to work across a very broad range of…

There are companies out there working on swabs. e.g. Formlabs designed an autoclavable, 3D-printed nasopharyngeal swab using biocompatible Dental resin, in concert with local hospitals. They received FDA Class 1 Exempt status from the CDC and are printing some 150K per day.

https://formlabs.com/covid-19-response/covid-test-swabs/

https://www.plasticstoday.com/medical/formlabs-3d-printing-m...

https://formlabs.com/covid-19-response/

I'm not associated with the company, I just own some of their printers. They've also got some 2000+ volunteers who own printers or have CAD expertise signed up and looking for ways to contribute. Apparently we can't make medically-approved swabs (most of us aren't ISO 13485-certified or FDA-registered), but there's other stuff (e.g. hands-free doorknobs). I'm even contemplating shipping one of my printers back to them to help in the effort.

Re: We’re working on 1M Covid-19 testing capacity per day

#150

Post by [deleted] »

buzzkillington wrote: post #60
tbenst wrote: post #10

Thanks for your efforts! Inspiring to see our broader community spring into action. I was part of a volunteer team that tested 3400 people on Friday/Saturday in Santa Clara country for COVID-19 antibodies [1]. It took a team of 100+ volunteers 10 hours / day just to collect samples. Stanford, for example, has plenty of automated testing capacity, and even reagents. IMHO, the limiting factors are not that we need new…

I find it incredible that no one has done these studies before issuing the lock down orders. Without knowing what the proportion of people who have been exposed but aren't sick any response is the wrong response. If it turns out that it's already spread to most everybody lock downs are just a way to create more homelessness. If it turns out that the only people with the antibodies are the ones in the hospitals we nee…

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