Multi-Allergen Screening Technology (MAST)

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We have been working on new technology that will ultimately allow up to 100 tests to be performed on blood without the need to prepare the sample in any way. The first target for the MAST platform will be to screen for allergy. The allergic response occurs when the concentrations of an antibody in the blood reach trigger level and then symptoms of runny nose begin to show. However, concentration much 10,000 times greater than the trigger level can cause a fatal anaphylactic shock. Allergy is on the increase in western cultures although it remains fairly rare on the African continent. What is causing this rise? Some 60 million Americans suffer from some airborne allergy but 11 million have serious, life-threatening food allergies. The technology will allow a simple blood test to be performed at the GP to screen for the top 10, 20 or 100 allergies and give an answer to the patient in 8 minutes. From this profile of allergy we will soon be able to discover whether allergies are related and how they work together to form an extreme response. The technology if successful will cost 5K for each GP surgery and approximately 30 per test. The objective of the current research is to take the instrument in the laboratory and make it ready for a full clinical validation.