FDA authorizes new test, built with machine learning, to detect past Covid-19 infections
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday issued an emergency authorization for a new test to detect Covid-19 infections — one that stands apart from the hundreds already authorized.
Unlike tests that detect bits of SARS-CoV-2 or antibodies to it, the new test, called T-Detect COVID, looks for signals of past infections in the body’s adaptive immune system — in particular, the T cells that help the body remember what its viral enemies look like. Developed by Seattle-based Adaptive Biotechnologies, it is the first test of its kind.
