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15 Africa telegraph 25 October - 09 November 2020 Produced in partnership with UK Government

Light at the end of the largest testing network in UK history
Glasgow’s ‘megalab’,

the tunnel is making a difference in protecting us all

from the spread of Covid-19

This time last year, every single one of The Glasgow Lighthouse centre is just
the 400 or so people who work at the As NHS Test and Trace becomes increasingly routine, so it is hoped that people in one part of a network of testing facilities
Lighthouse laboratory in Glasgow was Scotland and across the United Kingdom will be able to resume their normal lives. set up by the UK government across
doing something else. There was sim- Scotland, which includes six drive-
ply no need for a virus testing lab of this through centres, two new walk-in sites
scale and ambition in the UK. “The first day we started, in April,” she So how does it work? in St Andrews and Glasgow with more
recalls, “we did 41 tests. Now we’ve just to follow, and 20 mobile units – as well
What a difference a year makes passed 2.5 million tests.” People get tested if they have Covid-19 as home testing kits and testing for care
symptoms, or have been asked to seek home staff and residents.
The Glasgow “megalab”, which stretch- Facilities like the megalab are helping a test by NHS tracers. They book a test
es over four floors of a specially com- to maximise testing capacity in Scot- online through the UK government’s The eventual goal for all these facilities
mandeered building in Govan, is a vital land and across the UK. Increasing the portal and their swab gets delivered for is, ultimately, to render themselves re-
part of the largest network of diagnostic number of people tested is a key part of analysis to a lab like the one in Glasgow. dundant.
testing facilities yet created by any UK easing lockdown restrictions and getting Then the science starts.
Government. In support of the Scottish people back to work. Has the team at the Glasgow megalab
Government, the UK Government is pro- “The samples come in on the ground considered its long-term future?
viding all Covid-19 testing in Scotland Shortly after the Glasgow megalab floor,” Van Steenhouse explains. “Your
outside of NHS settings for people in opened, a partnership deal was struck swab is inside a tube, which is inside a “We’re trying to turn this negative crisis
Scotland. with medical research specialist Bio- bag, which is inside a bag, which is in- into something positive,” Clugston says.
Clavis, whose company president Harp- side a box. The samples get processed
The lab is currently working round the er Van Steenhouse became the megal- out of their packaging and then carried “Our facility is in Govan, an area where
clock to process some 50,000 swabs ab’s new director. up to the first, second and third floor, job creation is really important. So we’re
from Scotland and across the UK every where the scientific lines are running working with Scottish Enterprise, and
day, and aims to hit 85,000 soon. “It’s amazing what people can do,” he 24/7.” Skills Development Scotland, to think
says. “We have taken a bunch of bright about how we can work with colleges
As chief operating officer for the College people and given them a singular focus Can individuals be identified from and schools, for instance, or retrain peo-
of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences – to almost attempt to save the world. their swabs? ple from other sectors who are losing
at the University of Glasgow, Carol Clug- That can only happen in a scenario like their jobs.”
ston has been involved with the megalab this. It was never profit-driven, never “No. All we monitor are barcodes. The
since its inception. fame-driven, it was never for any reason scientific team essentially gets just the People are acquiring skills for the future
other than to give answers to patients.” tube, which is what we care about. The here, says Van Steenhouse. “Once the
tube has the swab in it. And it’s actually pandemic is over, we’ll have a huge
the liquid in that tube that is the patient number of skilled people right around the
sample. corner. As somebody who runs a small
business that hires these sorts of peo-
On the right, there are fancy liquid-han- ple, I’m keen that they’re learning these
dling robots, which do most of the work. skills.” So this ill wind might leave some-
“These robots must be fed constantly. thing good behind, after all.
Each workstation’s goal is to make sure
the next workstation’s robot stays fed.”
Now, the process moves up a gear. “We Carol Clugston:
take the material from the robots, putting “The first day we started in
it into a plate: 96 samples can fit into a April, we did 41 tests.
plate. From there, you get the RNA out
of the sample. Now we’ve just passed
2.5 million tests.”
The RNA is the genetic material in the
virus. The data file that comes out at the
end has the same barcode associated to
it. NHS Digital pulls all that information
together, and people get a text back on Harper Van Steenhouse:
their phone.” “Your swab is inside a tube,
Carol Clugston which is inside a bag,
Chief Operating Officer Harper Van Steenhouse As NHS Test and Trace becomes in-
College of Medical, Veterinary President, BioClavis creasingly routine, so it is hoped that which is inside another bag,
and Life Sciences at the people in Scotland and across the Unit- which is inside a box.”
University of Glasgow ed Kingdom will be able to resume their
normal lives.