Everything flows in rapid diagnostic tests
Thursday, April 12, 2012 - 07:31
in Physics & Chemistry
(Phys.org) -- Our ability to detect pathogens has become quite good, but it usually requires complex laboratory techniques. Sometimes we need a quick result, or there is no laboratory nearby. Portable and fast methods of detection that are also sensitive, reliable, quantitative, and effective over a broad range of concentrations are thus highly desirable. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, American researchers have now introduced a new approach for a lab-on-chip technique for the detection of pathogens by means of their genetic material. The method is so sensitive that it was able to detect as few as 16 copies of DNA from salmonella -- in less than an hour.