HK researchers develop system to identify 40 infectious respiratory pathogens in one hour

A customer with full protective gear pushing a cart while shopping inside a supermarket of Alibaba's Hema Fresh chain, following an outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. - Reuters

HONG KONG:The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) on Tuesday (Feb 11) announced the development of a new system that can identify 30 to 40 infectious respiratory pathogens in one single test within an hour, including novel coronavirus and bird flu virus.

The system was developed by a research team led by Terence Lau Lok-ting, director of Innovation and Technology Development, and adjunct professor at the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology of PolyU.