Engineered strain of BCG vaccine for safe quality control during TB tests
Invention 2019-053
Engineered strain of BCG vaccine for safe quality control during TB tests
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A positive control of Tuberculosis tests that can be safely handled in ordinary laboratories has been generated at UU直播.
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Market Need
In laboratories around the world, DNA-based tests are being used to identify cases of Tuberculosis (TB). As this is an easily spreadable disease, the accurate detection of TB with a definitive yes or no diagnosis is very important. This accurate diagnosis, however, depends on the quality control of the test and a viable positive control. For drug resistant TB, this poses a biosafety concern, since drug-resistant strains cannot be shipped to clinics and peripheral labs as quality controls to ensure that the test is working well.
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Technology Summary
This technology is an engineered strain of the commonly used BCG vaccine that can be safely handled in ordinary laboratories and carries resistance mutations detected by molecular tests for TB. With this strain, any laboratory can verify that their protocols are working, and can therefore provide TB test results with the assurance that the positive control has returned reliable results. If implemented, this technology would help standardize TB test quality controls between urban and remote laboratories and help accurate diagnosis.
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Advantages
- No need to ship drug-resistant TB strains to clinics anymore
- Standardization of positive controls for TB diagnostic tests in urban and remote areas
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Patent Status
Background IP for Research Opportunity