New monkeypox tracing method can analyze multiple samples and quickly detect virus strains

Dutch company Molecular Biology Systems (MBS), in collaboration with Amsterdam University Medical Center, and researchers from the Danish Rigshospitalet, has developed a fast typing method to trace monkeypox. The new method, NextGenPCR, not only detects strains of the virus quickly, it allows for analysis of multiple samples simultaneously. This way, the inventors say, genetic characterization of monkeypox virus can be used in source-and-contact analyses to help determine the measures of choice. Analyzing multiple samples simultaneously, reduces cost per sample, meaning more insight for the same cost. Gert de Vos, CEO of MBS, said: “We are happy our NextGenPCR technology can contribute to controlling the monkeypox outbreak. The technology will be applicable to other outbreaks in the future, if they happen.” Mutations The method was first tested in the Amsterdam region, which led to new insights regarding the genetic diversity of monkeypox virus, and was employed investigating the infection of the first child in the...