'SickStick': CU Boulder Researchers Develop Coronavirus Test That Gets Results Before Patients Have Symptoms

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) --  Researchers at University of Colorado-Boulder say they've developed an affordable over-the-counter test that can tell if someone has coronavirus before they develop symptoms.

"With most infectious diseases, by the time you develop symptoms you have already been contagious for days and out and about spreading it to people," said Nicholas Meyerson, a scientist in the department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCDB) and CEO of Darwin Biosciences, a start-up formed to commercialize the SickStick. "Our device acts at the earliest stage of infection. It knows you're sick before you do."

The user spits in a receptacle, sticks in a strip that soaks up the contents and within minutes – much like with an at-home pregnancy test – a series of lines appear.

If the test is positive, that person could immediately self-isolate.

Under normal circumstances, the path from lab to commercial availability could be years. But in this case, researchers say their goal is make the test commercially available in six months.

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