Member Article

Newcastle disease diagnosis revolutionary wows audience at Thinking Digital Conference

The brains behind a revolutionary handheld DNA sequencing device developed in Newcastle shared a stage with top technology thinkers this week.

Jonathan O’Halloran, the founder and chief scientific officer of Centre for Life-based QuantuMDx stunned the audience at this week’s Thinking Digital Conference with his story - bringing biotechnology to market from his garage.

The entrepreneur had been branded “crazy” for pursuing his idea that diagnostic equipment could be delivered at speed via a handheld device - but now Jonathan’s firm operates from offices across four continents.

The molecular biologist initially began development in South Africa before funding dried up and he was invited to relocate the Centre for Life base.

QuantuMDx’s technology, essentially a molecular laboratory about the size of an iPad, can test samples to extract DNA and provide disease diagnosis.

Doctors in developing parts of the world could expect to wait weeks for the results of such testing - but the firm’s technology makes it possible within minutes, at the touch of a button.

Jonathan said: “It became clear that we needed a simplification of the process. We needed to put the sample in one end and then get a result out the other. Not only that - we needed it in 15 minutes.

“This was no mean feat as the process for extraction can take up to three hours alone. It required a lot of rethinking and re-strategising of the technology that was already there.

“That wasn’t enough for us though. Not only are we helping diagnosis, we’re extracting a lot of information from patients. That information - on a big scale - can be incredibly useful.

“It’s important in terms of surveillance. We want to be able to contain a pandemic with this data.”

Jonathan explained that QuantuMDx’s ambition is now to configure the £500 hand-held device so that it can collect data on disease mutations across the world - a scheme he referred to as the “internet of life.”

He added: “To get something like this working, to collect all this data and make use of it, is really tricky.

“We’re working with bodies like the World Health Organisation and other NGOs. We’re also working with big international companies that are helping us with the architecture.

“Our work will mean we truely understand the pathogens of our lifetime, and that means a future without epidemics or pandemics.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .