Tracking a COVID-19 variant throughout the pandemic has typically taken about two weeks, but the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine said it has a method that will speed up the process - only taking two hours.

Dr. Evgeni Sokurenko, a microbiology professor at UW Medicine, said by using a simple dipstick and a small pager-size device, researchers can identify more than two dozen mutations.

“We need to think about detecting variants and dealing with this virus more like reconnaissance," said Sokurenko. "Mission-like reconnaissance, meaning that it's much more proactive. You know the latest moves of your enemy. And so, you know where to expect the heat. You know what is the best way to contain it.”

UW Medicine and Seattle-based ID Genomics, which Sokurenko founded, created the new tracking method.

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