IGI COVID-19 Initiative

IGI COVID-19 Initiative

Overview

In the early months of 2020, the global threat of COVID-19 united the scientific community. At the IGI, we created a pop-up coronavirus testing lab in our building on UC Berkeley campus over the course of three weeks. We tested patient samples from the UC Berkeley community, as well as first responders in the area, and vulnerable people without insurance or permanent housing. We developed new protocols for COVID testing, launched mobile testing for California farmworkers, and developed new rapid testing technology and clinical assays. Our scientists quickly formed rapid response research teams, working to better understand, detect, track, and treat the virus.

At the end of 2022, after processing over 650,000 tests, the IGI halted its COVID testing operations, but IGI investigators are still working on COVID-related research, and the IGI Clinical Laboratory is expanding its role in the institute as part of the Interventional Genomics Unit. Learn more and find resources below.

More COVID Resources

Read our Nature Biotechnology paper, Blueprint for a pop-up SARS-CoV-2 testing lab

Watch UC Berkeley Professor and IGI Investigator Britt Glaunsinger’s molecular virology lecture, “Coronaviruses 101.”

Struggling through coronavirus literature? Try covidscholar.org, a COVID-19 research search portal.

View our whiteboard video overview describing CRISPR-based diagnostic tools, which we and others are developing for rapid SARS-CoV-2 detection.

Science@Cal has developed a great resource page with basic information about COVID-19.

We want to deeply thank our supporters for their generosity.

Lead Philanthropic Partners

Major Supporters

Supply Donors

Individual Contributors

Meal Sponsors