Testing time for deadly diseases

Diseases such as meningitis and the superbug MRSA are not just serious but infectious too, so early diagnosis is vital. But hospital tests take up to 72 hours, by which time patients could have become seriously ill and may have spread the disease.

Finding a quicker test is vital, and academics from the Department of Chemistry have joined forces with a local genetics-testing company to develop a method for on-the-spot diagnosis.

The rapid ‘test & treat’ process they have developed analyses samples of blood, urine or saliva using novel electrochemistry methods to identify DNA sequences from the bacteria which cause the disease. This will enable hospitals and GPs to perform tests and get the results within 20 minutes.

Because the test cartridges are portable, robust and cheap, it should be possible to develop tests that could eventually be used in the home.

The first commercial target is Group B streptococcus, a bacterium that can cause illness in newborn babies. Routine testing of newborns is already required in the US and expected to be introduced in the UK. Prototypes for the new diagnostic technology should be ready in 2008.

Atlas Genetics was launched with £500,000 initial funding, which came in part from the Sulis Seedcorn Fund, established to provide support for new businesses set up using research carried out by the universities of Bath, Bristol and Southampton.