As the democratization of medicine becomes a higher priority worldwide, the new VirScan infection history test provides a very cheap way to find out each and every virus that the patient has ever been infected with, for a very low and attainable price.
The VirScan infection history test, created by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, makes it possible for scientists to see every past and present infection inside the patient's body, analyzing the possibility of any known human virus by solely analyzing one single drop of blood, for about $25 per sample, as they screen blood for antibodies against over 200 known species of viruses that affect human beings.
New Scientist reports that, to develop the VirScan infection history test, Stephen Elledge, an HHMI researcher and his team, used an international virus database to look each and every one known to infect the human species, which accounted to approximately 1,000 strains from 206 viral species; later, they recreated the DNA in each of those viruses responsible for making proteins, then putting DNA segments into those that infect bacteria.
The way the VirScan infection history test works is following how human immunity works: when the body's infected with a virus, its natural response is to create antibodies, which bind to the viral proteins to render them useless - and small amounts of these antibodies keep circulating the body long after you've recovered, protecting it from a relapse.
This is why there are viruses such as chickenpox that can only occur once; the body's already "trained" to keep them out for a second time.
According to Pop Sci, before making the VirScan infection history test official, researchers at the HHMI tested VirScan on almost 600 individuals between South Africa, Peru, Thailand and the United States - and after witnessing more than 100 million antibody reactions, ultimately concluded that the average of exposed viruses a person goes through is about 10, though they found a maximum of 84.
As Gizmodo reports, the technology for the VirScan infection history test could also be used to look for common factors for illnesses of which there's little information.