Chinese research is pointing to an effective SARS diagnostic test.

In November 2002 a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) emerged killing hundreds of people before it was eventually contained eight months later. Relatively little is known about this infectious disease, but with the possibility of its return, an accurate means of diagnosing SARS is urgently needed.

Now scientists in Beijing have identified the antigen that will allow them to develop blood serum tests for SARS. Knowing the culprit of the infection to be the SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Sheng-Qi Wang and colleagues developed an antigen screening method based on protein microarrays to evaluate SARS-CoV fragments in sera from SARS patients.

The recombinant GST-N2 fusion protein was a strong antigen in all SARS-CoV proteins and Wang hopes to use it to develop a clinical SARS antibodies testing method.

Carolyn Ackers