US scientists develop tool to detect Covid-19 virus using bioluminescence
Researchers have developed a new virus detection tool that uses light to find infections quickly and accurately.The device is called LUCAS (short for Luminescence CAscade-based Sensor) and could help doctors and patients detect diseases like Covid-19, HIV, and hepatitis in under 25 minutes.LUCAS works by using a special natural enzyme that makes things glow, just like how fireflies light up. This glow helps doctors "see" if harmful viruses are present in a person's blood or nasal sample.advertisement
While older tests using this method gave weak and short-lasting signals, LUCAS produces a signal that's 500 times brighter and lasts 8 times longer.Dr. Hadi Shafiee, who led the study at Mass General Brigham (the largest hospital-based research firm in the US), explained how difficult it can be to detect viruses in body fluids. The findings are published in Nature Biomedical Engineering."Finding a virus particle in blood is like finding an ice cube in a jelly-filled Olympic swimming pool while blindfolded," said Dr. Shafiee. But with LUCAS, that becomes a lot easier.The researchers tested LUCAS on samples from people with Covid-19, HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C, and found that the tool gave accurate results 94% of the time.It was able to do this in just 23 minutes, much faster than many lab tests.advertisementWhat makes LUCAS even more special is that it's portable and easy to use. This means it could be used in both hospitals and remote areas where access to labs is limited.The team hopes that LUCAS could one day also help detect other diseases, such as Alzheimer's, as scientists discover new warning signs or biomarkers. The researchers are now working on improving it further so it can test for multiple infections at once."Early detection makes a huge difference in treatment. Our goal is to make that early detection easier and available to everyone," said Dr. Sungwan Kim, a researcher on the team.Must Watch
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