Lifesaving Tests On Paper

摘要

Origami artists can turn paper into all manner of ingenious objects. It's unlikely, though, that anyone has tried to make a functioning medical lab that way - until now. With the help of some bits of carpet tape, a portable testing kit made of paper could transform medical care in poor countries.rnMuch diagnosis depends on tests of body fluids, such as for sugar in urine or viral proteins in mucus. Some such tests are now automated in "labs on a chip" that pipe biological samples through tiny channels into cavities containing reagents that change colour to reveal the result. The trouble is that these microfluidic devices are expensive and fragile.