New technology is able to detect viruses that can infect humans within hours ● The technology is offered to researchers for free
5.3.2006
By: InformationWeek
New technology provides early warning within hours of viruses that could infect humans. The method may help in the fight against bird flu, according to the inventors from the World Health Organization, which makes the method available to researchers for free.
"It is a tiny device with a monitor, similar to many other medical devices, except that instead of identifying pieces of DNA, we place cells in it to which the viruses attach," says Jeremy Berg, director of the National Institute of Medical Sciences at the World Health Organization. "With this method, we can detect hundreds of different types of viruses with the help of a single device."
The device was developed with the aim of applying all the knowledge gained on the detection of viruses in a single chip, in order to be able to quickly identify viruses that could infect humans. "The technology was not developed specifically for bird flu, but the device's capabilities are diverse and it can be used for that as well," explains Berg.
