Lab-in-a-Box

Although it’s less famous than other mosquito-borne viruses such as dengue and Zika, chikungunya is a big problem, infecting people in 40 countries worldwide. The word chikungunya means ‘to become contorted’ in the African Kimakonde language because the virus causes severe joint pain that makes people twist in agony, along with flu-like symptoms. One problem with diagnosing chikungunya is that the initial illness looks very similar to other infections, including dengue, Zika and even flu itself. Now enterprising scientists have come up with this cheap and simple ‘lab in a box’, which can be used to carry out a simple genetic test to confirm whether someone is infected with chikungunya. Importantly, it all works at room temperature. In future, tests for other viruses will be added and the costs brought down further, making it an important tool for identifying viral outbreaks in some of the poorest parts of the world.

Written by Kat Arney

Kat Arney

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Dr Kat Arney is an award-winning science writer, broadcaster and public speaker, and is the founder and Creative Director of First Create The Media.

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• Image by Ahmed Abd El Wahed
• Centre for Biological Threats and Special Pathogens, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, and Division of Microbiology and Animal Hygiene, Georg-August-University, Goettingen, Germany
• Image copyright held by original authors
• Research published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, September 2016