A Universal Virus Test Could Be Just What the Doctor Ordered

Detecting 1,000 viruses with just one test.

Innovator: W. Ian Lipkin
Age: 63
Title Professor of epidemiology at Columbia University

Form and function
Lipkin and six researchers developed a shoebox-size add-on to a genetic sequencer they say can accurately identify more than 1,000 viruses known to affect vertebrates, so doctors don’t have to test for infections one at a time.

Origin 
In 2013, Lipkin’s team began building a database of DNA sequences for those viruses known to affect vertebrates.

1. Sampling 
A technician adds a tissue or fluid sample to a solution with strands of DNA that attract various viruses.

2. Analysis
The technician runs the solution through a sequencing machine to identify the virus and assess its resistance to treatment.

Funding 
The tests have been funded by a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Cost 
Lipkin says his lab device can test a sample and obtain a definitive diagnosis for $100 or less.

Market 
Bill Martineau, senior health-care consultant at market researcher Freedonia Group, says about 10,000 labs would be interested in Lipkin’s tests, plus “all the hospitals.”

Next Steps
Columbia is starting to look for Big Pharma partners to commercialize the tests, Lipkin says. Ahmet Ali Yanik, assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of California at Santa Cruz, says a manufacturer would probably want to make the device more portable. “It’s a big step forward in terms of laboratory research,” Yanik says. “But there’s still a lot to do to make it a point-of-care diagnostic tool.”

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