美國疾病控制和預(yù)防中心以及科羅拉多州大學(xué)的研究人員最近開發(fā)和研制出了一種新的流感分析芯片F(xiàn)luChip，它是一種以基因芯片為基礎(chǔ)的化驗,，將使更多的實驗室擁有診斷流感感染的能力,。
在一項研究中，F(xiàn)luChip檢測了72個流感株,，其中包括H5N1禽流感株,，并且在12小時內(nèi)獲得檢測結(jié)果。研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)FluChip能經(jīng)前診斷72％的病毒株型和亞型,。有10％的病毒株只正確診斷出病毒型,。
與傳統(tǒng)的分析方法不同，F(xiàn)luChip能用于對水平的生物安全設(shè)備中,。美疾控中心希望這種新的芯片將會使更多的實驗室能夠確定不同地域新出現(xiàn)的病毒,，以及特定病毒是否來源于人類。這些研究對保護(hù)國家安全具有重要意義,，并且可能為抵抗流感提供一種新的工具。這項研究的發(fā)現(xiàn)刊登在8月的Journal of Clinical Microbiology雜志上,。
英文原文：
CDC Unveils the FluChip
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the University of Colorado at Boulder have developed a microchip-based test that distinguishes between flu strains and can even help trace the strains back to their origins.
The FluChip can be used to identify 72 influenza strains—including the H5N1 avian influenza strain that is currently of such concern—in fewer than 12 hours.
This technology can be used to make sophisticated influenza diagnostic capabilities more widely available to labs around the globe, not just concentrated with the CDC and a few major international laboratories.
"The ability to quickly and accurately identify strains of influenza would be invaluable to international flu surveillance efforts," said National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci.
The FluChip is a microarray, commonly called a gene chip. Microarrays can be made by using a robotic arm to drop hundreds or thousands of spots of genetic material—DNA or RNA—of known sequence onto a microscope slide.
The spots, called probes, are then exposed to a sample of unknown composition—for instance, material taken from a person with an undiagnosed illness.
Probes that match gene sequences of bacteria or viruses present in the sample result in capture of the target gene. By analyzing the pattern of captured targets, doctors can diagnose the cause of infection.
Researchers started with nearly 5,000 flu gene sequences, and then they used the data mining process to select 55 flu RNA sequences for use as probes on the FluChip.
