The Zika virus is spreading rapidly across South and Central America. Although not yet in the United States, Arizona researchers building off work at Harvard's Wyss Institute have developed a low-cost method of detecting the virus, giving impacted countries a new tool to effectively and rapidly test for the fast-spreading virus.
With merely a sample of saliva or blood on a piece of paper, ASU’s Biodesign Institute has developed a new method of detection of Zika virus. The strip of paper is precoated with ribonucleic acid (RNA), which is a molecule that assists in the production of protein, and costs nearly $1 each to make.
If the sample contains Zika, the paper’s RNA will bind to Zika’s RNA.
Alexander Green, who co-authored the research, said if binding occurs, it produces an enzyme that turns the paper from yellow to purple.
“It doesn’t cost much money, and it’s very rapid to develop so we can test out sensors in the lab and within a week we can have these sent out to different locations and have them in the hands of people in clinics pretty rapidly," said Green. "And they are pretty stable, so you can keep them at room temperature for up to a year and they remain active.”
Current Zika testing detects antibodies, which Green said can be produced by other viruses. By focusing on Zika’s RNA, the strips eliminate those false positives.
ASU researchers worked with scientists at the the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Toronto, Boston University, Cornell and other institutions to develop the rapid diagnostic test. Their work is described in the May 6 issue of the journal Cell.
