Testing people to find out whether they are infected with coronavirus is important in order to get them treated properly if they do test positive, and to keep the virus under control in the population. Programmes such as the UK Government's Test and Trace scheme work out whether the virus has infected someone by assessing whether its genetic material is present in a sample of human tissue such as a nasopharyngeal swab. There are two ways of doing this -- a test known as LAMP, which is a newer approach, or the current gold standard test, qPCR. Both tests use strands of DNA known as oligonucleotides. The use of the LAMP test has grown dramatically during the coronavirus pandemic because it uses cheap and simple equipment. However, the fact that it uses more oligonucleotides than qPCR, and the massive demand for LAMP testing, means that manufacturers are struggling to produce large volumes of high purity oligonucleotides rapidly. The oligonucleotides need to be highly pure, with no unwanted material such as DNA strands which are too short, so that the tests give accurate results. Large volumes are needed so that people can be tested repeatedly and regularly. ATDBio is a UK based company which is an expert in making the DNA needed for LAMP testing. Based on its experience it has devised a method which should enable the production of large, highly pure quantities of DNA more quickly and economically. Its new method combines reducing the amount of unwanted shorter strands produced when making oligonucleotides, with a better way of removing them and other unwanted pieces. The company already has early data suggesting that this new approach will work. In this Innovate UK project, the funds will be used to develop and research the new techniques further and assess whether the oligonucleotides they produce work in COVID-19 tests. The new oligonucleotides will then be produced on a large scale and tested independently in COVID-19 tests outside ATDBio's laboratories. ATDBio's new method is expected to increase the amount of DNA that can be produced three fold, reduce the time taken to purify it by three quarters, and increase its purity to 96%. This should make the LAMP COVID-19 tests faster and more accurate, and reduce their cost. In addition, the new techniques will be suitable for making DNA when testing for other infections, and in diseases such as cancer.

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq) techniques are emerging as a tool that can support unprecedented cancer diagnostics. scRNA-Seq techniques are critical for evaluating tumour heterogeneity at a single-cell level, providing rich data about the varying expression of genes within the 3D tumour environment. This feat is currently unobtainable using the whole-tissue transcriptomics investigational methods that are commonly deployed within hospital laboratories for diagnostic purposes, and by academic research groups for investigational purposes. As such, scRNA-Seq holds the key to unlock cell-by-cell diagnostics that are needed to fully realise the ambitions of precision medicine. Droplet-based scRNA-Seq (Drop-Seq) leads the emerging scRNA-Seq techniques. Drop-Seq deploys microfluidics to conjugate individual cells to oligonucleotide-barcoded capture microbeads, which are then encapsulated into aqueous droplets within an oil emulsion. However, innovations in Drop-Seq and wider scRNA-Seq methods are limited by a worldwide shortage of the microbeads, which are currently manufactured by a sole global supplier. This project will support ATDBio to develop microbeads exhibiting superior quality to the current microbeads offering, that perform better than the current state of the art, and that have additional uses outside of scRNA-Seq.

Flexmers are next generation aptamers and provide a novel alternative to drug compounds. To enable a very quick and efficient process for flexmer development, ATDBio and Biaffin will combine their expertise to create an integrated drug discovery pipeline for flexmers.

Flexmers are next generation aptamers and provide a novel alternative to drug compounds. To enable a very quick and efficient process for flexmer development, ATDBio and Biaffin will combine their expertise to create an integrated drug discovery pipeline for flexmers.