Dipstick technology could revolutionise disease diagnosis

School of Agriculture and Food Sciences

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researcher Professor Jimmy Botella said the technology could extract DNA and RNA from living organisms in as little as 30 seconds without specialised equipment or personnel.

"We have successfully used the dipsticks in remote plantations in Papua New Guinea to diagnose sick trees, and have applied it to livestock, human samples, pathogens in food, and in detecting environmental risks such as E. coli-contaminated water," he said.

"This technology will give people in developed and developing nations a new way of tackling a range of agricultural, health and environmental problems."

Professor Botella, who led the research team with Dr Michael Mason, said current commercial kits could isolate DNA and RNA through a long and cumbersome process requiring specialised laboratory equipment that was impractical in the field.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-11-dipstick-technology-revolutionise-disease-diagnosis.html#jCp