Inspirational achievements of Vietnamese scientists

Ho Anh Son, deputy director of the Institute of Biomedicine and Pharmacy

Why did your team decide to embark on this research, and what did it entail?

The COVID-19 disease appeared as a completely new type and so countries have barely had any experience in dealing with it. Scientific information about the novel coronavirus was also extremely poor at the time it broke out. This sparked a new research challenge for us – paying all attention towards studying the emerging disease.

As soon as information about the strange pneumonia in Wuhan was published in prestigious scientific journals, scientists here at the Vietnam Military Medical University immediately initiated a research project.

We contacted partners at the Charite Hospital in Berlin for genetic information and identification processing of the novel coronavirus. At the same time, we tried to buy supplies from abroad, and asked for support with the necessary biological products to be sent to Vietnam. The first positive case in Vietnam was diagnosed just before the Lunar New Year holiday, pushing us into a very urgent situation.

Vietnam, at that time, had very few testing kits and was completely dependent on those of other countries. That was the motivation for our team to study and invent the SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic kit, which is an important step to help Vietnam take the initiative in testing the disease, controlling the source of testing kits and, in addition, allow the nation to have the capacity to support other countries.

To successfully come up with this quick test kit, what were the difficulties your team encountered?

Right before the holiday, the Vietnam Military Medical University had established a number of professional groups to combat epidemics, including research teams with experts from various fields.

We, the research team at the medical university, were tasked with focusing on the novel coronavirus diagnostic kit. The group consists of 10 key members, including experts on viruses and molecular biology, and students of all levels who are in their 20s.

One of the biggest challenges for us was the time pressure. One month is too short compared to the normal 18-24 months for implementing a test kit manufacturing research project. To achieve this, we all had been working with our greatest efforts regardless of time passing. The only thing we were paying attention to during that period was the research result. With so many experiments to be done, there was always a lack of time.

In addition to this, we also faced difficulties in getting disease samples, because COVID-19 pathogens are extremely dangerous and cannot be handed over if they are not eligible for research safety.

However, we clearly recognised the support and fierce participation of not only Vietnam’s political system and expertise, but also domestic and foreign experts.

We have witnessed huge devotion from our partners in Germany and France, our colleagues, and related agencies, such as the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Department of Science and Technology for Economic Technical Branches, the Office of National Programmes on Science and Technology, the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the Institute of Genome Research, the Ministry of National Defence, and many more institutions.

Besides that, Viet A Tech JSC as our partner also played a key role in the research with us to exchange ideas, discuss, and immediately began producing the test kits, making it in time for the due date.

What satisfies your team most about the outcome, and do you intend to continue researching for more optimal results?

The one-step real-time kit diagnosing the SARS-CoV-2 virus has every needed function integrated into one reaction, which means it is very convenient to carry out the test, bringing out accurate results. In particular, the kit performs stably on different real-time systems, and can be applied to any system of machines with different types.

Continuing to develop another optimised test kit, or even a completely new but better product, has always been a big question not only for us at the Vietnam Military Medical University, but also to scientists in Vietnam and other countries.

As a researcher in the field of healthcare, what do you draw from your work and life during the COVID-19 pandemic?

We have to be ready to adapt to changes in our time, especially in regards to epidemics. We, and most people, find that health preparedness is absolutely essential.