A fluorescence viewer for rapid molecular assay readout in space and low-resource terrestrial environments

Abstract

Fluorescence-based assays provide sensitive and adaptable methods for point of care testing, environmental monitoring, studies of protein abundance and activity, and a wide variety of additional applications. Currently, their utility in remote and low-resource environments is limited by the need for technically complicated or expensive instruments to read out fluorescence signal. Here we describe the Genes in Space Fluorescence Viewer (GiS Viewer), a portable, durable viewer for rapid molecular assay readout that can be used to visualize fluorescence in the red and green ranges. The GiS Viewer can be used to visualize any assay run in standard PCR tubes and contains a heating element. Results are visible by eye or can be imaged with a smartphone or tablet for downstream quantification. We demonstrate the capabilities of the GiS Viewer using two case studies – detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA using RT-LAMP and quantification of drug-induced changes in gene expression via qRT-PCR on Earth and aboard the International Space Station. We show that the GiS Viewer provides a reliable method to visualize fluorescence in space without the need to return samples to Earth and can further be used to assess the results of RT-LAMP and qRT-PCR assays on Earth.