VereTrop, the first biochip that can identify 13 different major tropical diseases from a single blood sample, has been launched by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and Veredus Laboratories.

“Tropical diseases often reflect common symptoms like fever, and may not be accurately diagnosed early by doctors. This portable test kit is a rapid and reliable method to accurately test for multiple pathogenic targets from just one blood sample in a matter of hours,” said project lead virologist Lisa F.P. Ng, Associate Professor at A*STAR’s Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN).

Together with Professor Laurent Renia, an expert in Malaria Immunobiology at SIgN, the team from SIgN has validated the kit on patient samples in the fields of Northern Thailand, at the Thai-Myanmar border.