Global health R&D at work in Arizona
Arizona State University researchers have developed a nanotechnology-based diagnostic testing technique that is cheaper and quicker to deploy than traditional laboratory methods. When a sample of blood or another fluid is added to the test tube solution, nanobodies attached to gold nanoparticles in the liquid bind to human antigens—the proteins emitted by the body in response to a virus. This causes a color change that can be read by the human eye or a simple sensor. The approach, which costs only a penny per test, delivers results in just 15 to 20 minutes. This simple, inexpensive technique—which has shown proof of concept for Ebola and COVID-19 but could be deployed for a range of infectious diseases—holds the potential to be a valuable new tool for enabling rapid, accessible testing globally during disease outbreaks.