KogeneBiotech PowerChek SARS-CoV-2 S-gene Mutation Detection Kit

KogeneBiotech of South Korea has launched the PowerChek SARS-CoV-2 S-gene Mutation Detection Kit version 1.0, a research-use-only kit designed to detect and discriminate between 12 significant viral variants. Specifically, the kit detects genomic mutations of the receptor binding domain region of the spike protein, and can discriminate variants of concern that originated in the UK (B.1.1.7), South Africa (B.1.351), Japan/Brazil (P.1), and US/California (B.1.427/429); and the variants of interest, classified by WHO, that originated in New York (B.1.525), Brazil (P.2), India (B.1.167 and B.1.167.1/2/3), the company said. The assay can be performed in less than an hour based on SNP detection via one-step multiplex real-time PCR.