Paper lab for identifying all mosquito-borne diseases

Research on quick and low cost diagnosis of diseases has increased in the context of Covid 19. Malaria, dengue, chicken pox and Zika can now be quickly identified through a low-cost, manual and paper-drawn laboratory.

This pocket-sized diagnostic kit can identify all mosquito-borne diseases. The high-speed kit was developed by Min Gun Kim, a professor at the Guangzhou Institute of Science and Technology in Korea.

The diagnostic tool is fully automated to identify a disease at the molecular level. That is why the full name of this laboratory is Lemda (Lab on Paper for All in One Molecular Diagnostics) which means it is a complete laboratory built on a piece of paper.

With this tool, sampling, retrieval, amplification and final identification of the viral RNA contained in it is done automatically. For this, one drop of blood and one drop of water have to be dripped in two places on the bandage. The fluid flows through the area where the RNA is extracted from the sample and can be multiplied to diagnose the disease.

The upper surface of the laboratory is covered with a reactive layer that can detect one of the three diseases caused by mosquitoes. After the RNA is removed, the liquid reaches the surface where the light emitting chemical is added. Then, looking at the colors and the light, it can be said that the patient has dengue, or malaria, or chicken pox.

The revolutionary lab detects the disease in an hour and its details are published in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics.