The immune system release specific antibodies when it encounters a virus. It can continue to produce those antibodies decades after an infection subsides. VirScan test detects those antibodies and uses them as a window in time to create a blueprint of nearly every virus an individual has encountered. The test, known as VirScan, works by screening the blood for antibodies against any of the 206 species of viruses known to infect humans.Researchers at Columbia University found a DNA-based blood test which can determine a person's entire viral history. This new test can lead to early detection of hepatitis C, certain autoimmune diseases and cancers. This new innovation test only for a single suspected virus. The study appears in Science.
Ian Lipkin, Researcher said, "The approach is clever and a technological tour de force. It has the potential to reveal viruses people have encountered recently or many years earlier, thus, this is a powerful new research tool." Study leader Stephen Elledge said, "Many of those people have probably been infected with many different strains of the same virus. People could be infected with many strains of rhinovirus over the course of your life, for instance, and it would show up as one hit. The VirScan analysis currently can be performed for about 25 dollars per blood sample, though labs might charge much more than that if the test becomes commercially available. It currently takes two or three days to process and sequence about 100 samples, though that speed could increase as technology improves."
During the study, scientists found that an average person is exposed to 10 of the 206 different species of known viruses, though some people showed exposure to more than double that number.
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