Answers from the Lab

John Mills, Ph.D., is the co-director of the Neuroimmunology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic and the scientist who oversaw the development and validation of the new neutralizing antibody assay. Today he joins us to explain what the neutralizing antibody assay is, why it is different than other COVID-19 tests, and the science and innovation behind these efforts.

Show Notes

Timestamps:
Speaker 1: (01:00)
Perhaps you could start off by just telling us how is this test different than the other antibody tests? What is a neutralizing antibody to begin with? 

Speaker 1: (02:40)
 Can you tell us about the new neutralizing antibody test then and how it came about? 

Speaker 1: (03:39)
 What did you do specifically to make it a clinical test? 

Speaker 1: (04:50)
 How many tests then can be completed each day? 

Speaker 1: (05:11)
 How would you incorporate this test into the clinical workflow then? Would there first be a screen to make sure the patient has antibodies to begin with? 

Speaker 1: (06:12)
 Can you tell us a little bit about the science about how that works and how this live virus comes into play? 

Speaker 1: (08:10)
 How will this assay be used now that we have it and should everyone be tested? 

Speaker 1: (09:53)
 Do you have any idea of how many people that have antibodies, actually have neutralizing antibodies specifically? 

Speaker 1: (11:19)
 Are there other laboratories that can offer this type of testing?

Speaker 1: (13:07)
 Are there any other ways that this test could be used at this time?

Resources:
https://news.mayocliniclabs.com/covid19/

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A Mayo Clinic curated podcast sharing Mayo Clinic knowledge and advancements on the state of testing, science, and people who are making it happen behind the scenes.