Chipping in to benefit worldwide rural health

William Woodworth

From left, Leeann Kerr, Rick Christie, Callum Morris, Andy Diouf, Murray Broom, Kevin Darling and Anny Gupta. Photo: William Woodworth

A world-leading innovation designed to help rural doctors test for infectious diseases is being developed in Marlborough.

A ground-breaking collaboration between Marlborough biotech firm DNAiTECH and Senegal’s Institut Pasteur de Dakar has developed a portable diagnostic tool which performs medical tests in the field to help rural medical professionals worldwide.

Microbiologist Andy Diouf joined the DNAiTech team in Blenheim to refine the battery-powered device, which uses a credit card-sized chip to detect and deliver fast, accurate results for measles and rubella at the point of care instead of requiring laboratory scrutiny.

Designed for remote, power-limited settings, without labs or refrigeration, the tool is set for clinical trials in Senegal next month with eyes on continued development around yellow fever and other illnesses.

“This concept began working alongside Callaghan Innovation around agricultural uses, but with tweaks to the diagnostic tool we have been able to make it look for different DNA and RNA within the samples we collect onto the chip”, says DNAiTECH founder and CEO Murray Broom, who will be among those making the trip to West Africa in August and September.

“With the heat and humidity of Senegal, field testing there means the diagnostic tool will be able to withstand some of the toughest conditions in the field, so Andy’s feedback is incredibly important in making sure this works in real-world conditions there.

“Due to this tool being reprogrammable, the platform has no limit for what it can test for from measles in people to e-coli in water.”

Andy Diouf running through how the DNAiTech diagnostic tool finds illnesses. Photo: William Woodworth.

The project is funded by Grand Challenges Senegal and Grand Challenges Canada - global health initiatives supporting innovation in epidemic response to help health workers detect outbreaks earlier and respond faster.

“The DNAiTech technology meets the needs of what rural medical professionals require to offer better service and I’m really enjoying the way they work as a small, expert, efficient team in a great little town here in Blenheim”, says Andy.

“Diseases are often overlooked by Western diagnostic companies but they’re still causing major public health problems around the world, and fast testing is a great tool to stop illnesses spreading.

“It’s important that the tool is both tough enough to be used consistently wherever they are needed, as well as sensitive enough for medical use,” he added.

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