Paper Tests Get Cheap

Diagnostic test strips that cost just pennies can test for liver damage, mold, and milk spoilage in the developing world.

| 1 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
Share

KIMCARPENTER NJ, FLICKR

A Boston-based company has developed paper diagnostic strips that cost just penniesto create and can be used in the developing world.

With just a drop of blood from a thumb prick, the strips developed by Diagnostics for All can detect liver damage, which is often a side effect of multi-drug AIDS and Tuberculosis treatments. In the United States, such patients are monitored with regular blood tests, but those tests are often too expensive to perform regularly in the developing world.

The company has also developed a test for aflatoxin, a mold toxin that grows on grains and can stunt development in children. Current tests, priced at $6, are too expensive for farmers in rural parts of Africa and Asia , but the new diagnostic strips ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • Tia Ghose

    This person does not yet have a bio.
Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo
New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

Sino

Products

Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide

Inventia Life Science

Inventia Life Science Launches RASTRUM™ Allegro to Revolutionize High-Throughput 3D Cell Culture for Drug Discovery and Disease Research

An illustration of differently shaped viruses.

Detecting Novel Viruses Using a Comprehensive Enrichment Panel

Twist Bio 
Zymo Research

Zymo Research Launches Microbiome Grant to Support Innovation in Microbial Sciences