NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) — Luminex said today that the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) is using Luminex's xMAP technology to develop rapid diagnostics for the Ebola virus.
Luminex said that its MAGPIX system was recently deployed to Africa to support research efforts to control the current outbreak of the virus, which has claimed more than 700 lives across Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.
Developed by USAMRRID and run on the MAGPIX system, the assays test serum samples for the presence of viral antigens and antibodies directed at these antigens. Results of the assays provide information about virus replication and host immune response.
"Our open architecture instruments provide researchers a flexible tool for assay development that can advance their research goals," Luminex President and CEO Patrick Balthrop said in a statement. "Understanding the functional progression of a virus is extremely valuable information."