Japanese Scientists Invent 11-Minute Ebola Tests
A field test for Ebola giving results in just over 11 minutes has been developed by a Japanese team.
In the positive results by Nagasaki University's Institute of Tropical Medicine, doctors can move quickly to treat patients of hemorrhagic fever, said Professor Jiro Yasuda, according to medicalnews.
"The result time was unexpectedly short," said Yasuda, regarding the trial conducted in Guinea last month on 100 individuals, of which 47 proved positive.
Supply of the equipment by the institute and the Toshiba partner has been asked by the Guinean government in order to roll out the test, added Yasuda. The test will be based on what the researchers have called a "primer", or "a substance that amplifies only those genes specific to the Ebola virus found in a blood sample or other bodily fluid."
The test helps to extract ribonucleic acid (RNA) or biological molecules from viruses present in a sample, in order to use in the coding of genes. They are then used to synthesise the viral DNA, which can be mixed with the primer and then heated to 60-65 degrees Celsius (140-149 Fahrenheit).
If Ebola is present, DNA specific to the virus is amplified by the primers. The by-products from the process cause the liquid to become cloudy, giving visual confirmation, Yasuda said.
With a technique called polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, that is used to detect the Ebola virus, the doctors alternatively heat and cool samples repeatedly for at least 90 minutes, but which can even stretch to two hours.
The Ebola virus, which has killed more than 10,000 in western Africa, can be transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids, since it re-infected patients in December 2013.
