A new test quickly and accurately detects bacteria that have infected your body.

Scientists of American University of Colombia have created a unique test that detects the presence of 307 bacterial pathogens by saliva or blood test.

The new test provides an opportunity to promptly determine the cause of infection and gets rid of the risks of randomized treatment.

Accurate and timely diagnosis is one of the most reliable ways to prevent resistant infections, which are known to occur in response to the excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics.

The method works as follows: we use magnetic nanoparticles having small DNA fragments attached to them. As a result these “trained” magnetic nanoparticles can detect and catch unique genome fragments (tags) of all pathogens.

Getting on the patient's blood or saliva, the particles instantly find and attach themselves to the fragments of bacteria genome. Then the particles are separated using a magnet, and the captured DNA fragments are multiplied and investigated in the laboratory. This makes it easy to identify what a pathogen bacterium or its strain presents in the patient's body.

Now genetics is going to develop a similar test for fungi and viruses.

Source: EUROLAB