A group of researchers created a portable method to detect the presence of coronavirus in just 60 minutes, with simple application and very low cost. Its application could be key for the "window" period, that is, when the patient has no symptoms but is already sick.
The scientists are economist Franco Goytía, from the University of San Andrés), Carla Giménez biotechnologist and former Conicet scholar, Federico Pereyra Bonnet and Lucía Curti, from the National University of Buenos Aires.
All of them are researchers at CONICET, the State-ran scientific institution. The method is very simple: it is a band-aid very similar to the one applied for pregnancy tests, and specifically configured to detect infectious diseases and genetic mutations.
The prototype manufactured could be ready in a short time for sale to the public. The first tests were carried out in scientific institutes in the north of the country with dengue patients with excellent results.
In less than 60 minutes it yields either a positive shown with two lines or a negative result, with one line.
