Covid Research Panel
Michael Rosbash, PhD
Peter Gruber Endowed Chair in Neuroscience, Professor of Biology, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator
Department of Biology
Brandeis University
(September 25, 2020)
An important piece of trying to control the Covid-19 pandemic has been testing. Identifying those who are infected, potentially even before they show symptoms, allows for fast quarantine and less spread. However, developing a test that is fast, accurate, and easy to use is not a simple task. Dr. Rosbash discussed the work of his team creating a saliva-based test with a rapid turnaround time. The successful test they created was a true collaboration between his lab and others at Janelia Farms and the University of Iowa, that resulted in an easy to use, accurate test, that could potentially lower testing costs by thousands.