Valeria Perales-Salinas

Ms. Valeria Perales-Salinas

orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

3Years (2024-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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19 January 2024 in Diagnostics
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
SBSergio Bravo-Gonzalez
Sergio Bravo-Gonzalez
EGEverardo González Gonzalez
Everardo González Gonzalez
VPValeria Perales-Salinas
Valeria Perales-Salinas
IRIram Pablo Rodriguez-Sanchez
Iram Pablo Rodriguez-Sanchez
JCJose Eric Ortiz Castillo
Jose Eric Ortiz Castillo
Mario Moisés AlvarezMario Moisés Alvarez
Mario Moisés Alvarez
COVID-19 made explicit the need for rethinking the way in which we conduct testing for epidemic emergencies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the dependence on centralized lab facilities and resource-intensive methodologies (e.g., RT-qPCR methods) greatly limited the deployment of widespread testing efforts in many developed and underdeveloped countries. Here, we illustrate the development of a simple and portable diagnostic kit that enables self-diagnosis of COVID-19 at home from saliva samples. We describe the development of a do-it-yourself (DIY) incubator for Eppendorf tubes that can be used to conduct SARS-CoV-2 detection with competitive sensitivity and selectivity from saliva at home. In a proof-of-concept experiment, we assembled Eppendorf-tube incubators at our home shop, prepared a single-tube mix of reagents and LAMP primers in our lab, and deployed these COVID-19 detection kits using urban delivery systems (i.e., Rappifavor or Uber) to more than 15 different locations in Monterrey, México. This straightforward strategy enabled rapid and cost-effective at-home molecular diagnostics of SARS-CoV-2 from real saliva samples with a high sensitivity (100%) and high selectivity (87%).