LONDON — Researchers from the U.K. have developed the first-ever shipping container lab for COVID-19 testing that features a mobile, low cost, scalable and open-source design.<br /><br />The lab units are called CONTAIN, according to a preprint study in BioRxive.<br /><br />Writing in a news release, the paper's sponsor Open Cell Labs states each automated lab is rated Biosafety Level 2 plus as designed and requires just one staff.<br /><br />The staff logs the barcoded samples before plating them. Then the plates are handed off to OpenTrons OT-2 liquid handling robots for RNA extraction.<br /><br />Finally, plates from the OT-2 are put into the QuantStuido5 machine for the quantitative polymerase chain reaction test.<br /><br />Patients take swab tests via a self-closing service window. Open Cell claims that one lab unit can churn out 2,400 tests per day.<br /><br />Test results are sent electronically via secured protocols that can be integrated for use by governmental health agencies.<br /><br />The labs could be scaled up by stacking as many as 39 the units together to form a large-scale coronavirus diagnostic center.
