Additional Zika Tests in Development

Scientists design diagnostics to improve the detection of current infections.

kerry grens
| 2 min read

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WIKIPEDIA, CYNTHIA GOLDSMITH/CDCAs some researchers work to develop serologic tests to determine past Zika infections (see “New Tests for Zika in the Works,” The Scientist, January 25, 2016), others are focusing on improving the way current infections are detected.

The standard method, using PCR to probe for viral RNA, requires laboratory equipment and skilled personnel. MIT virologist Irene Bosch and her colleagues have designed an assay that can detect viral particles, NS1 protein in particular, in a user-friendly format available at the point of care. “It doesn’t require any adjunct technology,” Bosch told The Scientist.

The test can accept serum kept at room temperature and can distinguish dengue from Zika infections. It’s now being validated in Colombia with support from the US Centers for Disease Control. Should the test hold up to scrutiny, it will be up to a biotech firm to commercialize it, something Bosch is not involved with. “I would imagine it takes a year to have a product ready to be ...

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Meet the Author

  • kerry grens

    Kerry Grens

    Kerry served as The Scientist’s news director until 2021. Before joining The Scientist in 2013, she was a stringer for Reuters Health, the senior health and science reporter at WHYY in Philadelphia, and the health and science reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio. Kerry got her start in journalism as a AAAS Mass Media fellow at KUNC in Colorado. She has a master’s in biological sciences from Stanford University and a biology degree from Loyola University Chicago.

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