Scientists from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have developed a new approach to sampling blood for past viruses. This new method called
VirScan allows a single drop of blood to be analyzed for more than one factor that might be affecting a person's health, rather than just one virus. It is an inexpensive way, costing $25, to analyze viruses in a larger population. This new technology searches for
antibodies of the 206 known viruses to humans. The team intends to take the technology further and look for "antibodies that attack a person's own tissue in autoimmune diseases that are associated with cancer." (HHMI)
In my opinion, this is a great way to look into a patients medical history, at a very inexpensive cost. I think that this could allow researchers to look into a patients history and create tailored drugs that could potentially lead to effective treatments. I would like to read more on this topic and see what researchers have done with their findings.
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