CU profs working on chip to quickly diagnose flu

BOULDER — Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder are developing a “flu chip” to help physicians diagnose respiratory illness easily, quickly and inexpensively.

The flu chip can differentiate between three types of flu and other viruses that cause similar symptoms, including severe acute respiratory syndrome, known as SARS.

CU chemistry professors Kathy Rowlen and Robert Kuchta are developing the chip using a $1.7 million grant from the National Institute of Infectious Disease. The team includes post-doctoral research associate Chad Moore, graduate students Michael Townsend and James Smagala and undergraduate student Amy Reppert, along with researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the World Health Organization and Bio-Rad Laboratories in Hercules, Calif.

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A flu chip is based on a DNA microarray — micron-sized spots of DNA on a glass slide the size of a postage stamp. Each spot is designed to capture, and thus identify, a specific genetic “signature” of a virus sample. Patient saliva samples are placed on the chip, which is then developed to produce an image. By looking for specific DNA segments on the chip, a doctor can determine which bits of genetic information are present in the patient and identify the virus.

The researchers are hoping the flu chip will be an inexpensive way to screen for type A flu, the most virulent strain, as well as the B and C strains, SARS and other viruses, in about an hour’s time.

“In addition, the flu chip could play a significant role in detecting and containing viral outbreaks or alerting officials to an ‘engineered’ influenza virus,” Rowlen said.

“Rapid identification of any biological pathogen, such as flu A, anthrax or SARS, requires a reliable and relatively inexpensive analytical system that can be widely manufactured and distributed,” she added. “Current commercial technology for rapid identification of influenza A does not provide any genetic information, and therefore cannot provide investigators at the CDC or the World Health Organization with adequate information for managing local epidemics or worldwide pandemics.”

Rowlen said an estimated 500,000 people die worldwide each year from the flu, and there’s a significant economic impact resulting in productivity loss during infection.

The “Spanish Flu” pandemic of 1918-19 killed between 20 million and 40 million people, and infected about one-fifth of the world’s population.

“For comparison, the corona virus that caused the recent outbreak of SARS has claimed less than 1,000 lives to date,” Rowlen said. “However, as demonstrated by the public response to SARS, of great concern is the ability of viruses to undergo natural or engineered genetic change that could result in a virus capable of rapid and lethal spread within the population.”