{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T01:15:05Z","timestamp":1760145305584,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,11]],"date-time":"2024-07-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1720656000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER)","award":["LISBOA-01-01D2-FEDER-000002"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LISBOA-01-01D2-FEDER-000002"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["BioTech"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the Polytechnic University of Set\u00fabal (IPS) used its expertise in molecular genetics to establish a COVID-19 laboratory, addressing the demand for community-wide testing. Following standard protocols, the IPS COVID Lab received national accreditation in October 2020 and was registered in February 2021. With the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants and safety concerns for students and staff, the lab was further challenged to develop rapid and sensitive diagnostic technologies. Methodologies such as sample-pooling extraction and multiplex protocols were developed to enhance testing efficiency without compromising accuracy. Through Real-Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis, the effectiveness of sample pooling was validated, proving to be a clear success in COVID-19 screening. Regarding multiplex analysis, the IPS COVID Lab developed an in-house protocol, achieving a sensitivity comparable to that of standard methods while reducing operational time and reagent consumption. This approach, requiring only two wells of a PCR plate (instead of three for samples), presents a more efficient alternative for future testing scenarios, increasing its throughput and testing capacity while upholding accuracy standards. The lessons learned during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic provide added value for future pandemic situations.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/biotech13030026","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,11]],"date-time":"2024-07-11T11:33:22Z","timestamp":1720697602000},"page":"26","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Strategies for Increasing the Throughput of Genetic Screening: Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic within a University Community"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5460-3892","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fernanda","family":"Miguel","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"IPS COVID Lab, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Set\u00fabal, Rua Am\u00e9rico da Silva Marinho, 2839-001 Lavradio, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3306-1171","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"A. Raquel","family":"Baleiz\u00e3o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IPS COVID Lab, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Set\u00fabal, Rua Am\u00e9rico da Silva Marinho, 2839-001 Lavradio, Portugal"}]},{"given":"A. Gabriela","family":"Gomes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IPS COVID Lab, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Set\u00fabal, Rua Am\u00e9rico da Silva Marinho, 2839-001 Lavradio, Portugal"},{"name":"RESILIENCE\u2014Center for Regional Resilience and Sustainability, Escola Superior de Tecnologia do Barreiro, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Set\u00fabal, Rua Am\u00e9rico da Silva Marinho, 2839-001 Lavradio, Portugal"},{"name":"MARE\u2014Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Escola Superior de Tecnologia do Barreiro, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Set\u00fabal, Campus do IPS, Estefanilha, 2910-761 Set\u00fabal, Portugal"},{"name":"Departamento de Engenharia Qu\u00edmica e Biol\u00f3gica, Escola Superior de Tecnologia do Barreiro, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Set\u00fabal, Rua Am\u00e9rico da Silva Marinho, 2839-001 Lavradio, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Helena","family":"Caria","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IPS COVID Lab, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Set\u00fabal, Rua Am\u00e9rico da Silva Marinho, 2839-001 Lavradio, Portugal"},{"name":"Departamento de Engenharia Qu\u00edmica e Biol\u00f3gica, Escola Superior de Tecnologia do Barreiro, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Set\u00fabal, Rua Am\u00e9rico da Silva Marinho, 2839-001 Lavradio, Portugal"},{"name":"BioISI\u2014Instituto de Biosistemas e Ci\u00eancias Integrativas, Faculdade de Ci\u00eancias, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"Departamento de Ci\u00eancias Biom\u00e9dicas, Escola Superior de Sa\u00fade, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Set\u00fabal, Campus do IPS, Estefanilha, 2914-503 Set\u00fabal, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6731-3832","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"F\u00e1tima N.","family":"Serralha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"RESILIENCE\u2014Center for Regional Resilience and Sustainability, Escola Superior de Tecnologia do Barreiro, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Set\u00fabal, Rua Am\u00e9rico da Silva Marinho, 2839-001 Lavradio, Portugal"},{"name":"Departamento de Engenharia Qu\u00edmica e Biol\u00f3gica, Escola Superior de Tecnologia do Barreiro, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Set\u00fabal, Rua Am\u00e9rico da Silva Marinho, 2839-001 Lavradio, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9310-9456","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marta C.","family":"Justino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IPS COVID Lab, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Set\u00fabal, Rua Am\u00e9rico da Silva Marinho, 2839-001 Lavradio, Portugal"},{"name":"RESILIENCE\u2014Center for Regional Resilience and Sustainability, Escola Superior de Tecnologia do Barreiro, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Set\u00fabal, Rua Am\u00e9rico da Silva Marinho, 2839-001 Lavradio, Portugal"},{"name":"MARE\u2014Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Escola Superior de Tecnologia do Barreiro, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Set\u00fabal, Campus do IPS, Estefanilha, 2910-761 Set\u00fabal, Portugal"},{"name":"Departamento de Engenharia Qu\u00edmica e Biol\u00f3gica, Escola Superior de Tecnologia do Barreiro, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Set\u00fabal, Rua Am\u00e9rico da Silva Marinho, 2839-001 Lavradio, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"108961","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ejrad.2020.108961","article-title":"Diagnosis of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): RRT-PCR or CT?","volume":"126","author":"Long","year":"2020","journal-title":"Eur. 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