We open this newsletter with some good news: Brazilian researchers have developed a scalable, highly sophisticated method for Covid-19 testing. On a more negative note, Brazilian carbon emissions won’t go down this year. And the effort to prevent websites from profiting from misinformation.
Brazilian Covid-19 testing technology is cheaper and more efficient
Researchers at São Paulo’s Albert Einstein Hospital have developed, in the space of just two months, a genetic test to diagnose Covid-19. It is the first in the world to use next-generation sequencing (NGS), a flagship technology that makes large-scale whole-genome sequencing accessible. The hospital expects to enhance its test-processing capacity from 2,200 to 5,530 tests per day.
Why it matters. The new testing technology comes as Brazilian labs struggle to deal with a lack of inputs to run Covid-19 tests. In some states, testing capacity has been reduced by 75 percent.
- Low testing has prevented Brazil from assessing the full extent of the coronavirus outbreak. While confirmed cases are just over 310,000, many scientists have estimated the true number of infections is higher than 4 million.
How they did it. The new tests were a byproduct of the hospital’s startup incubator, which invests in biotechnology. One of...