Home DNA test for viruses and bacteria

A new analytical chemistry device currently used by people with diabetes could be adapted into a home DNA detector for individual virus and bacteria tests in human body fluids.

The device could also be used for detection in food and other substances, according to a new study that appears in American Chemical Society's journal Analytical Chemistry.

The researchers, from the University of Illinois, believe that developing low-cost tests such as this, which allow the public to check for early diagnosis of diseases and food safety, is the biggest challenge in chemistry. Researchers Yi Lu and Yu Xiang from the university have been responding to this challenge by adapting the home glucose monitor.

The scientists have managed to turn the enzyme invertase from a sucrose into glucose, which can be measured by the device. They achieved this by taking a bacterial or viral DNA fragment and capturing and concentrating it on beads. They then add an enzyme that is stuck to a different DNA, which can turn the sucrose into glucose.

Posted by Neil Clark