CANADA: High School Girl Develops HIV Test That Delivers Instant Result

A 15 year-old Vancouver student has developed an HIV test that delivers a result in a matter of seconds. IFI Science reports:

Nicole Ticea is a Grade 10 student at the private girl's York House School, Vancouver. As part of a collaboration program with Simon Fraser University she developed a test using Isothermic Nucleic Acid Amplification. This allows users to place a drop of blood on a chip to receive a near instantaneous response to find out if they are infected, a process only slightly more difficult than a pregnancy test. The test is still a long way from widespread use, with its reliability needing to pass far more stringent review, before commercial partners can even be considered. Multiple HIV testing mechanisms exist, but none are considered perfect, leading to the widespread combination of two testing mechanisms to minimize the danger of false results. In this context, Ticea's work could easily find a niche.

Ticea's project will compete in Canada's national student science fair next week.