$25 Blood Test Identifies Any Virus You've Ever Had

A newly-developed $25 (£16) test that can identify any virus that has ever affected a person, from one drop of blood. It's inventors say it can test for more than 1,000 virus strains, and once refined would be cheap enough to deploy on a large scale.

"VirScan is a little like looking back in time: using this method, we can take a tiny drop of blood and determine what viruses a person has been infected with over the course of many years," said co-author on a paper announcing the news in Science, Stephen Elledge of Harvard Medical School. "What makes this so unique is the scale: right now, a physician needs to guess what virus might be at play and individually test for it. With VirScan, we can look for virtually all viruses, even rare ones, with a single test."

VirScan works by exposing a drop of blood onto a bacteriophage populated with peptides, the protein targets antibodies in the immune system attack and hook onto. If there is an antibody in that blood sample related to one of the 1,000 virus strains coded into the bacteriophage, it will seek it out and bind to the related protein. The test then collects up all the antibodies and the matter they have bound to. That matter -- made up of the proteins the antibodies have clung to -- are then sequenced to identify the viruses.

Love to see innovation at work in the medical world. According to the article they had a set back when trying to detect virus like chicken pox ,due to people being vaccinated and having it at a young age . It was Identifiable in only about 25-30 percent of people. So the older the virus I am guessing the harder it is to Detect .

But still a great step towards longevity.

You can find more information about VirScan HERE

Your Thoughts ?

Kap

a reply to: Kapusta

Your thoughts?

It's clear what the benefits are from this...

Now, I just wonder how big pharma and insurance will use it against you for profit and/or profiling.

And what about screenings for gov't benefits, employment, ect..?

The slippery slope on this one is steep.

Good find OP

originally posted by: BestinShow

The slippery slope on this one is steep.

Yep.
It'll be used to test if a person has had vaccinations, if not then med insurance will refuse to pay out.

Well, don't you already have to provide proof of vaccination? Isn't in your medical records?

Imagine using this to tag people who entered a particular area. You could genetically modify harmless viruses into different mutations, then spray them in that area. If a particular combination of antibodies were matched, that would be evidence of being present in that area.

a reply to: Kapusta

DNA bank. Will hurt you later if you make deposit.

a reply to: Ultralight

DNA bank. Will hurt you later if you make deposit.

Yeah. Blood tests are for stupid people.

A lot of chronic diseases are caused by a virus. People with chronic fatigue will be good candidates for this. Also, its suspected that many cancers are caused by a viruses. This could help identify people at a greater risk for certain cancers. It isn't all doom and gloom, you can't go through life living in fear of everything.

originally posted by: VoidHawk

originally posted by: BestinShow

The slippery slope on this one is steep.

Yep.
It'll be used to test if a person has had vaccinations, if not then med insurance will refuse to pay out.

Or to read it properly it could be used to tell whether a person is LYING about having vaccinations.

I think like any medical advancements, this technology can be used positively and negatively...

To try a test like this would be interested yet scary for a number of reasons. But it really could reveal underlying problems which would be very useful since I'm pretty sure that the more disease that infects us during our lifetime, the more "junk" we carry in our cells...a bit like a computer. Even if you manage to erase the viruses, it's still never going to be like a format.

Which is why I doubt the long term use of vaccines. I fear that having a vaccine for a disease that you would of never gotten weakens our overall immune system over time. It's tiny bits here and there and surely different people react differently but something tells me that I'm right. Especially that a freshly vaccinated could be contagious, I doubt that vaccines are the ultimate answer for our health.

Also, some believe that our DNA can be "infected" by viruses.

originally posted by: theMediator
I think like any medical advancements, this technology can be used positively and negatively...

To try a test like this would be interested yet scary for a number of reasons. But it really could reveal underlying problems which would be very useful since I'm pretty sure that the more disease that infects us during our lifetime, the more "junk" we carry in our cells...a bit like a computer. Even if you manage to erase the viruses, it's still never going to be like a format.

Which is why I doubt the long term use of vaccines. I fear that having a vaccine for a disease that you would of never gotten weakens our overall immune system over time. It's tiny bits here and there and surely different people react differently but something tells me that I'm right. Especially that a freshly vaccinated could be contagious, I doubt that vaccines are the ultimate answer for our health.

Also, some believe that our DNA can be "infected" by viruses.

Vaccines have been in use for nearly 2 centuries.
Modern vaccines have been in use for over 2-3 generations.
Vaccines don't and can't weaken an immune system, they prime it for a specific response.
You probably wouldn't catch the diseases that they prevent because they've made them less available.
How do you mean that "freshly vaccinated could be contagious"? In what respect?
Do you mean able to spread the disease they are vaccinated for?
If so, that's incorrect as even with "live virus" vaccines, the virus part is attenuated so it cannot cause the disease.

Our bodies have different aspects of our immune system. This apparently tests for antigens. Now there are other ways a virus can be detected other than by identification by antigens. Viruses put out chemistry that can trigger immune response in general.

Also, presence of antigens does no good if immune response of the body is blocked. Some food chemistry can reduce immune response. Also, the immune response has to be the proper response, sometimes this can be a problem.

Antigens are just a part of the problem. Our bodies should be able to disable viruses through mucosal Immunity almost immediately. Somehow, the western diet has caused a depression of our proper immune response leading to a reduction of symptoms but more possible damage to the body.

What if you've received a blood transfusion at some point?

a reply to: Pardon?

Do you mean able to spread the disease they are vaccinated for?
If so, that's incorrect as even with "live virus" vaccines, the virus part is attenuated so it cannot cause the disease.

The CDC seems to disagree. Although this is a specific vaccine, it is a vaccine:

Data indicate that both children and adults vaccinated with nasal spray flu vaccine can shed vaccine viruses after vaccination, although in lower amounts than typically occurs during shedding of wild-type influenza viruses

www.cdc.gov...

To understand the relevance and direction of this then please watch a film called 'Gattaca' with Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law...

Not a world which allows for the individual IMHO..

Regards

PDUK

originally posted by: Pimpish
a reply to: Pardon?

Do you mean able to spread the disease they are vaccinated for?
If so, that's incorrect as even with "live virus" vaccines, the virus part is attenuated so it cannot cause the disease.

The CDC seems to disagree. Although this is a specific vaccine, it is a vaccine:

Data indicate that both children and adults vaccinated with nasal spray flu vaccine can shed vaccine viruses after vaccination, although in lower amounts than typically occurs during shedding of wild-type influenza viruses

www.cdc.gov...

No they do not disagree.

Read what I've posted and what you've posted again.
It says "vaccine virus".
It's an attenuated virus.

en.wikipedia.org...