COVID-19; History, Taxonomy, and Diagnostic Molecular and Immunological Techniques

Abstract

In recent years, viral epidemics such as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have spread, and this outbreak is thought to be the result of animal-to-human transmission. Hence, accurate diagnostic tests to detect COVID-19 and antiviral antibodies in infected individuals are of utmost importance. This report describes the structure, history, taxonomy, and molecular and immunological techniques for diagnosing this disease. Tests for early diagnosis of COVID-19 depend on the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). However, tests based on isothermal amplification and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based methods are promising options. Identifying people whose activated antibodies require serological tests, including enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). The search for efficient, cost-effective, and accurate laboratory techniques that can be used on a large scale continues. The RT-PCR technique is a dominant technique for the detection of viral RNA. Other acidic nucleic-based assays such as isothermal amplification, microarray hybridization, amplicon-based metagenomics sequencing, and CRISPER-based techniques have been developed. Along with molecular methods, different efficient serological and immunological methods such as ELISA, rapid antigen test, lateral flow immunoassay, luminescent Immunoassay, and biosensors are also developed.