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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBREAKING: High School Student Discovers New, Better Way to Test for HIV
An astounding high school science project may change the face of HIV diagnosis the world over. IFLScience.com reports that 16-year-old Nicole Ticea has developed an HIV test that allows a user to place a drop of blood on a microchip and receive a near instant test result.
This test actually tests for the virus, unlike current testing technology which looks for antibodies. More recently an antigen test was approved for use in the U.S., and it shrinks the window between infection and detection as well. The antigen test looks for a specific protein from the viral envelope. In some instances, PCR technologythe test which looks for the virus in the blood by amplifying itcan also be used for early diagnosis. But the PCR technology is lengthy and costly. Ticea's test is likely to be much more simple.
The technology Ticea's test uses is already in use for diagnosis of other diseases as well.
The new test, if approved, could result in earlier diagnosis and earlier intervention with ARV treatment. That could result in less transmisson of HIV and better outcomes for people living with HIV.
http://www.hivplusmag.com/testing/2014/05/13/breaking-high-school-student-discovers-new-better-way-test-hiv
ALBliberal
(2,342 posts)Maybe a case of being removed from "group think". The young lady has a bright future!
William769
(55,147 posts)Whisp
(24,096 posts)Amazing new discoveries by amazing women scientists.
William769
(55,147 posts)BrotherIvan
(9,126 posts)I hope this test comes to fruition and helps to battle this virus. Amazing!
rurallib
(62,426 posts)or maybe 3 years? The other being the test for pancreatic cancer
wikipedia - Jack Andraka in 2012
Way to go youngsters!
William769
(55,147 posts)Whatever it is, I'll take it!
DemocraticWing
(1,290 posts)And these kids blow me away on a regular basis. These kids are spending hours in research labs unlocking whatever they can discover. If they keep it up over the next few decades, this world is going to be far better for it.
rurallib
(62,426 posts)I bet you go home at night exhausted and exhilarated.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)all day, learn new things, you will come up with new discoveries.
Who the hell would have ever guessed that?
Huh. Maybe we shouldn't be cutting people's food stamps. Maybe instead we open up junior colleges to everyone without cost.
Might find a cure for cancer instead of a cute lead story about high school kids on the evening news.
Good work, btw. Too bad it stands out because we are doing so little else other than watching ice melt and student loan debt increase.
JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)FourScore
(9,704 posts)Cha
(297,323 posts)theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Just last night my partner and I mused about what the world might be like today had women and girls been allowed equal access to education over the centuries.
Congratulations, Nicole!
William769
(55,147 posts)Dorian Gray
(13,496 posts)at her science fair!
sheshe2
(83,793 posts)What an amazing child. What an extraordinary accomplishment.
No wonder the GOP and Baggers don't want math and science in schools, or girls for that matter. Knowledge scares them as the want us deaf dumb and stupid so we follow like sheep.
This could mean so much to so many people William! Thank you for spreading the word~
William769
(55,147 posts)As does everyone else if they thought about it.
Ignorance can be a deadly disease.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)IronLionZion
(45,462 posts)Catching it early on mission critical towards preventing the spread of the disease. Making it easier and cheaper and more accurate to test is very important.
William769
(55,147 posts)FourScore
(9,704 posts)Damansarajaya
(625 posts)but I'd feel a lot better about it if it came from, say, the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Not sure how a 15 year old gets access to a high-powered research lab and HIV infected blood, BUT it is Canada, after all.
http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/teenager-creates-new-hiv-test
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)in various scientific fields. Love it!