Research Breakthrough: 12-hour H5N1 diagnostic kit

Dubbed as the FluChip, a diagnostic kit that will identify the presence of H5N1 in a person has been developed at the University of Colorado . Containing DNA or RNA of different strains of flu viruses, the microarray gene chip is able to identify the type and subtypes of the strain, making it a huge improvment from prievious tests that use a whole live virus and yet only give a positive or negative response. So because the test doesn’t need a live virus for diagnosis, it can be performed at a low biosecurity lab with enough equipment to study genetic material.

The new kit shaves off days from the process which now takes almost a week. “This state-of-the-art research is vital to our efforts to protect the nation’s health, and it may provide a new tool in our toolbox in the fight against influenza,” said US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Julie Gerberding.

This news release from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases gives details on the technology.

[Photo: Univ. Colorado ]

Tags: antiviral research, avian flu, Center for Disease Control, FluChip, gene chip, H5N1, microarray, research, seasonal flu