Chapter 2. Molecular Diagnostics on the Smartphone: The Mobile Health Revolution
When my cofounders and I launched Biomeme three years ago, we did so with an eye on a number of converging trends. Among them, the rapid adoption of mobile technology, a flourishing DIY culture, and the serious shortcomings of our centralized healthcare model. In particular, a conspicuous lack of diagnostic tools in both the home and the doctor’s office. Sending samples out to labs for test results has been a staple of our healthcare paradigm. At Biomeme, we asked the question, “Why not build the lab around the smartphone so that diagnostics can be performed by anyone, anywhere?”
So we did just that, creating a battery-powered, real-time thermocycler that docks with an iPhone 5s and enables users to perform molecular diagnostics from sample to answer virtually anywhere. For anyone with an iPhone, it’s essentially a lab in a box. Everything needed to complete a given test is in a kit, which consists of a small, inexpensive instrument and some disposables. Our vision is to have the system cost no more than an electric razor, toothbrush, or game console.
The technology is based on real-time PCR, or polymerase chain reaction, a biochemical process used to amplify target DNA sequences. PCR requires a machine that precisely heats and cools the DNA or RNA to achieve replication. For a tutorial on PCR, see the Biocoder #5 article “PCR for Everyone, Everywhere” by Ezequiel Alvarez-Saavedra and ...
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