New bird flu detection device developed
Scientists in Singapore said yesterday they have developed a portable device that can detect the H5N1 bird flu virus in less than half an hour.
The palm-sized "lab-on-a-chip" device is able to quickly detect the presence of the H5N1 virus from a throat swab or stool samples from humans and poultry, said Masafumi Inoue, one of the researchers from the Singapore-based Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology.
The instrument uses a magnetic force to manipulate reagents to rapidly determine whether samples are positive for the deadly H5N1 strain, Inoue said.
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