VATIS UPDATE Article

Scientists at Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Brazil, have developed a biosensor that can quickly detect dengue and could help create a cheap tool to diagnose the painful mosquito-borne virus that infects millions each year. “They are looking to produce a testing kit that would cost clinics and hospitals around $30 and take about 15 minutes to analyse blood samples for a key dengue protein,” said Cleverton Luiz Pirich, at UFPR.

A biosensor is an analytical device that converts a biological response into an electrical signal. “You can do a diagnosis very fast, at a very low cost, and you don’t need to have a lot of knowledge of this equipment,” added Pirich. The scientists coated the biosensor with a thin film of bacterial cellulose nanocrystals, which effectively detected a protein known as NS1 from blood samples.

Researchers now want to explore ways to create cost-effective biosensor components that could be used to analyse multiple blood samples. The technology could potentially be adapted to detect proteins from viruses such as Zika, which is also transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Endemic in Latin America and Asia, dengue infects hundreds of millions of people each year, and is becoming more prevalent.