AFTER a bioterrorist attack, every second counts. Doctors need to find out exactly which pathogen has been released and quickly so that they can treat thousands of potential victims before it’s too late.
Now a biotech firm claims to have built a machine that might help do just that. The company has cranked up the PCR technique, which amplifies DNA segments, so that it can help spot bugs such as anthrax more quickly. One test churned out DNA within 78 seconds. “That is the fastest PCR ever performed in the world,” says Hendrik Viljoen from the University of Nebraska, who…
