Dipstick test for plague on the way

Plague could soon be diagnosed faster than ever before, thanks to scientists in Germany. The group have pioneered a new, dipstick test which will drastically cut the time it takes to spot the disease. This could save many lives in developing countries, where modern outbreaks are concentrated, and where there is little access to the labs needed for conventional diagnosis methods.

The team, from the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, isolated an antibody which specifically recognises and binds to the cell wall of Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for plague, immediately confirming its presence in a sample. This paves the way for a test which could take minutes, according to author Chakkumkal Anish.

This article provides a link to coverage in Chemistry World