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Congrats
to Google Science Fair Grand winner Olivia Hallisey- she developed a cheap
rapid #Ebola
test @googlescifair (Image source: Daniel Kraft MD on Twitter)
|
A
16-year old teenager from Connecticut, United States has invented an express
test to detect the deadly Ebola virus in just 30 minutes at a cost of US$25.
Olivia Hallisey’s breakthrough grabbed the top prize at the Google Science
Fair.
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Some
of the ultrastructural morphology displayed by an Ebola virus virion is
revealed in this undated handout colorized transmission electron micrograph
(TEM). © Frederick Murphy / CDC / Reuters
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Hallisey,
a sophomore at Greenwich High School, has come up with what she called a “novel,
temperature-independent, rapid, simple and inexpensive Ebola detection
platform.”
“Current
methods of Ebola detection utilize enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (“ELISA”)
detection kits which cost approximately US$1,00 each, require complex
instrumentation, trained medical professionals to administer, and up to 12
hours from testing to diagnosis. The kits require the unbroken refrigeration of
reagents from point of manufacture to point of use (the “cold chain”), making
the ability to diagnose in remote areas, where refrigeration is often
nonexistent or unreliable, highly problematic if not impossible,” Hallisey
explained on her project’s website.
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©
googlesciencefair.com
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Unlike
current Ebola detection methods, Hallisey’s test takes only half an hour to
show the Ebola virus and does not require any refrigeration. While Olivia’s
method is 25 times more expensive – US$25 per test – it is also 24 times faster
than the tests currently available. When it comes to Ebola, minutes do matter.
“It
is estimated with early diagnosis and medical treatment, Ebola fatality rates
of up to 90% would decline by approximately 50 percent,” the teenager said.
Olivia
used silk fibers, which possess stabilizing properties, and current Ebola ELISA
reagents, taking all of the same components of a regular Ebola test –
antibodies and chemicals that cause the test to change colors if Ebola proteins
are present in a patient’s blood.
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| Congrats to Google Science Fair Grand winner Olivia Hallisey- she developed a cheap rapid #Ebola test @googlescifair (Image source: Daniel Kraft MD on Twitter) |
Hallisey
used the silk-stabilized chemicals to “construct a four-channel, paper-based,
fluidic detection card,” where reagents would react with a patient’s Ebola
antigens. It requires only a serum sample and water to work.
“In
this new device, that is stable and stored at room temperature, 30µl drops of
water were used to dissolve silk-embedded reagents, initiating a timed-flow
towards a center detection zone, where a positive (colored) result confirmed
the presence of 500pg/ml Ebola(+)control antigens,” Hallisey wrote.
In
order to confirm that her test is capable of sustaining high temperatures,
Hallisey tested the Ebola ELISA “in a 96-wellplate format (A450nm) at 0-7days
from initial mixing and dilutions.”
On
Tuesday, Hallisey was awarded with a US$50,000 scholarship for her breakthrough
as a prize at Google’s annual Science Fair, an online competition for children
between the ages of 13 and 18.
The
Connecticut teenager was one of 22 young scientists from around the world who
were showing off their scientific projects.
Originally published in RT America
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