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One of the keys to bringing a viral outbreak under control is rapid detection and diagnosis, which depend on the availability of fast, low-cost, easy-to-use tests that don’t require labs or expensive equipment to process them. Scientists at the Ó³»­´«Ã½ of MIT and Harvard and collaborators in the United States, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone have now validated such tests for Ebola and Lassa — two of the deadliest and most transmissible human viruses — in settings with limited infrastructure.

The diagnostic tests use the CRISPR-based SHERLOCK assay to detect low levels of virus in patient samples. The test can detect specific viruses from certain regions, requires only a simple heat block and basic supplies to run, costs less than US$1 per sample, could be used on saliva or urine, and can return results in less than an hour.

Barnes KG, Lachenauer AE, et al. Deployable CRISPR-Cas13a diagnostic tools to detect and report Ebola and Lassa virus cases in real-time. Nature Communications. Online August 17, 2020. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17994-9.