University of the Sunshine Coast researchers have developed a rapid portable test for one of the world’s fastest-spreading mosquito-borne diseases, following funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Research Foundation.
With World Mosquito Day on 20 August marking the ongoing battle against dengue fever in tropical and subtropical countries including northern Australia, the UniSC research team is taking its findings to the next level.
UniSC Associate Professor of Molecular Engineering Dr Joanne Macdonald, who received the Gates Foundation grant of more than AU$150,000 (US$100,000), has had the paper published in Gates Open Research with co-authors Dr Madeeha Ahmed and Dr Nina Pollak.
“We developed a rapid test, with results that look similar to a COVID-19 home stick test, for each of the four types of dengue virus,” said Dr Macdonald,
They were sensitive enough to detect even small amounts of viral genetic material in mosquitoes using only pipettes (tubes) and a heating block, instead of expensive laboratory equipment.
