Scientists relish the hunt for virus
Late into the night, a group of Palmerston North scientists and lab technicians continue the hunt for Covid-19.
They are the group of workers hastily assembled to answer the call for local testing in April, when flying samples to Christchurch became impossible.
Medlab Central set up the lab at Massey University and had it accredited within days to provide fast results.
Laboratory team leader Rebecca Lucas-roxburgh said the staff, who all have other jobs, soon found working evenings was the best arrangement.
They start at 6pm and work until about midnight.
That fits well with the arrival of courier packs of samples from Whanganui about 6pm, from Gisborne a little later, and MidCentral samples from late in the afternoon.
It means samples taken any day, up to 691 of them on the lab’s busiest day, can be processed and the results made available electronically later that night.
Lucas-roxburgh said the workers were all enjoying the careful, manual work involved in the process and were excited to be part of the response to the Covid19 crisis.
Evening shifts in the lab also worked well under level 2 restrictions as more daytime activity resumed on the campus.
The hunt for the virus is a laborious business. The first step, preparing the samples, is the most risky.
This is where a fifth of a millilitre of the pink liquid the sample is collected in is added to a solution to split open the virus.
Staff wear full protective gear and work in a ‘‘PC3’’ lab. It has swipe card access, double doors and air pressure control.
‘‘It protects the specimens and the people.’’
After that, the virus is inactivated, and staff are safe to work in lab coats and gloves.
The next step is separating the RNA, the viral genetic material, from the rest of the sample, using magnetic bead technology.
Next, material is amplified thousands of times, with fluorescent dyes used to show up any viral material. A tiny fraction, one-millionth the size of a 1-litre juice bottle, is transferred by a pipette to tubes the thickness of a matchstick.
If the result is positive, the sample is tested again to detect a different viral gene to confirm.
Lucas-roxburgh said the whole operation had been achieved because so many people responded quickly to the need.
Staff at Medlab were covering for their colleagues, the IT team set up the reporting system in a couple of weeks and staff in stores sourced the necessary lab supplies at a time when they were in high demand.
Although New Zealand has only had two cases in the past 10 days, the laboratory is likely to keep working for some time yet.
Medlab Central chief executive Cynric Temple-camp said the need for Covid-19 testing had prompted rapid changes for laboratories.
He said Massey University and Ag Research had been accommodating, providing facilities and helping with the initial set up, but would eventually want to regain use of the space at the Hopkirk Institute.
Medlab was working on bringing testing for Covid-19 and other viruses in-house at Palmerston North Hospital.