Test could identify ebola in just 30 minutes

Small disc-shaped pieces of tracing paper could soon be used to identify, within as little as 30 minutes, whether somebody has contracted ebola.

Researchers who have developed the technology say DNA print sequences can be embedded in the pieces of paper. They are then freeze-dried before being stored at room temperature. When reactivated in water, they will change colour from yellow to purple if a particular protein from a virus like ebola is detected.

Jim Collins of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University told New Scientist magazine: “We’re extending the concept of litmus paper to biochemical reactions, putting the power of molecular biology onto paper. It’s actually very easy.”