Most of us in the UK are now familiar with the rapid tests we do for Covid 19, but engineers and virologists in Glasgow are using origami to develop new tests that can detect other viruses.

Earlier this year they announced at test for malaria, this week a paper was published in Nature Communications with details of their test for hepititus C. The tests are 98% accurate and because they could be delivered in the field could help identify people with the virus before they develop symptoms, meaning treatment could be offered more quickly, saving lives. Worldwide, 400,000 people each year die of the disease.

In their press release Glasgow University say “The device uses sheets of origami-like folded wax paper to prepare samples for a process known as loop-mediated isothermal amplification, or LAMP.  The process of paper folding enables the sample to be processed and delivered to three small chambers in a cartridge, which the LAMP machine heats and uses to test the samples for the presence of hepatitis C RNA.”

Sources:
https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_823026_en.html
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41928-021-00612-x