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Vela Diagnostics Automated Coronavirus Test Gets CE-IVD Mark

NEW YORK — Vela Diagnostics said on Monday that an automated version of its ViroKey SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Test has received CE-IVD marking, as well as provisional authorization from Singapore's Health Sciences Authority.

The test detects SARS-CoV-2 by targeting conserved regions of the SARS-CoV-2 ORF1a and N genes. It runs on the Singapore-based company's Sentosa SX101 instrument, in conjunction with its Sentosa SA201 instrument or Thermo Fisher Scientific's ABI 7500 Fast Dx and can perform up to 48 tests on a single run.

A nonautomated version of the test received CE-IVD marking in April. Vela developed both tests with $225,000 in Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority funding.

The Scan

Nucleotide Base Detected on Near-Earth Asteroid

Among other intriguing compounds, researchers find the nucleotide uracil, a component of RNA sequences, in samples collected from the near-Earth asteroid Ryugu, as they report in Nature Communications.

Clinical Trial Participants, Investigators Point to Importance of Clinical Trial Results Reporting in Canadian Study

Public reporting on clinical trial results is crucial, according to qualitative interviews with clinical trial participants, investigators, and organizers from three provinces appearing in BMJ Open.

Old Order Amish Analysis Highlights Autozygosity, Potential Ties to Blood Measures

Researchers in BMC Genomics see larger and more frequent runs-of-homozygosity in Old Order Amish participants, though only regional autozygosity coincided with two blood-based measures.

Suicidal Ideation-Linked Loci Identified Using Million Veteran Program Data

Researchers in PLOS Genetics identify risk variants within and across ancestry groups with a genome-wide association study involving veterans with or without a history of suicidal ideation.