MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. Researchers from Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics (ITEB) have developed a simple and economical method, which allows diagnosing tuberculosis in just 5 minutes, Ministry of Science and Higher Education said Tuesday.
"The ITEB scientists have developed a super-sensitive express method, which allows detecting ultra-low amounts of the protein - down to 0.3 femtogram, or just several molecules in a specimen. The test would be useful for researchers in their laboratories, as well as for medics for disease diagnosis," the message says, adding that the full research has been published in the Analytical Chemistry journal.
Currently, the most popular diagnosis method is so-called western blotting. It allows detecting low protein concentration in complex biological samples using specific antibodies. However, this method is slow, labor-intensive and not sensitive enough.
The ITEB scientists have developed an entirely different method, which only requires an optical microscope and a simple flow-through cell.
"There is no need to use expensive scanners and specialized equipment. The method is simple and cost-effective: one test requires only 1 nanogram of antibodies, or 1,000 times less than traditional western blotting methods. Besides, the entire test takes about 5 minutes," says Yury Shlyapnikov, ITEB nanostructures and nanotechnologies laboratory head and one of the researchers.
The scientists note that the express test could be used both in science and in practical medicine. For example, the researchers have discovered specific biological markers in the patient's exhaled air. Detection of these markers could be used for remoted diagnosis of tuberculosis, the researchers say.