Do you have a cold or something more?

Pediatrician Natalie Hodge makes a house call. Jeff Roberson/AP Photo

LIVERMORE, Calif. -- Your head aches, you're congested and simply getting out of bed is a chore. You pay a visit to your doctor, and within minutes -- using a simple cheek swab placed in a tiny box -- he knows precisely which virus or bacteria is causing the symptoms and prescribes the right treatment.

While this scene would be right at home in the "Star Trek" sick bay, it may become a staple in real-world clinics within the decade, according to Lawrence Livermore Laboratory chemical engineer Elizabeth Wheeler.


"It's basically like you're Xeroxing it," Wheeler said. "Once you've got enough of it, you can detect it."

The technique -- polymerase chain reaction -- isn't a recent phenomenon. In fact, it turned 30 this year. Discovered in 1983 by Nobel Prize winner and UC Berkeley alum Kary Mullis, it's been used for identifying human remains, food safety, and bacterial detection.


Wheeler, whose husband is a San Ramon physician, said the project's goal is to have Fast PCR devices in every clinician's office, allowing patients to submit a sample and have it processed while the doctor goes through his checkup routine. Before the exam is over -- in about the time it takes to cook a bag of microwave popcorn -- the physician could make a decision on appropriate treatment.

"Everyone's been frustrated when you go in and its like, 'is it a virus or a bacteria?'" Wheeler said. "You could run this and they can say 'yep, you have a bacterial infection, here's the antibiotic,' or 'it's a virus, go home and rest.'"



"This opens up all kinds of diagnostic possibilities," Bustin wrote, including "carrying out PCR evaluations of a patient's sample whilst talking to the doctor."

