A team of mainly Cork scientists have produced a chemical used to test for Covid-19 that had been in short supply globally.
Spearheaded by Dr Brigid Lucey from CIT and Dr Martina Scallan from UCC, the project also drew together scientists from CUH, Teagasc, Eli Lilly and UL.
Global shortages of re-agents has greatly limited the capacity of labs across the world to test samples and has created an urgency to scale up production.
Instructions on the production of the re-agent are being made freely avabilable to scientists all over the world.
Speaking to RedFM News, Dr Brigid Lucey from CIT says producing the re-agent will allow countries to take back control.
"We've become very used to using commercial formulations, and when that supply necessarily has to stop because the entire world is looking for a limited supply of the same formulation, then it's a breakthrough when a whole lot of scientists can come together and share their expertise to produce something that actually produces a quality product that can be used diagnostically in a hospital laboratory."
