BGI’s coronavirus testing kit and sequencing platform detected the first Omicron case in Sweden and Saudi Arabia.

Finding the source of infection in time is crucial to stopping disease transmission. BGI provides biotech support for the global community to detect and tackle new variants in time.

BGI’s testing kits have proved an accurate method for detecting the new coronavirus variant Omicron after bioinformatic analysis. Within two hours, the kits can detect and recognize different variants of Covid.

The Detection Kit for Six Mutations in S Gene of SARS-CoV-2 (ARMS-PCR*) detects six spike protein mutations - 69-70del, K417N, K417T, E484K, N501Y, and A570D. It enables the identification of four coronavirus Variants of Concern (VOC) – Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Omicron. Karolinska Institute (KI) in Sweden has used the kit to identify the country's first case of Omicron sample on Nov 29.

*ARMS-PCR: amplification refractory mutation system - polymerase chain reaction