Here is a new paper-based test that tells you whether ebola is a guest in your body or not! In just 30 minutes, you can find out. The test-papers can be sustained for an year if they are "freeze-dried" and maintained at normal temperature in a room. They can then be moistened if required, according to rtnews.com

The research was done at Harvard University's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. The team came up with a new way of creating a synthetic gene compound that can be embedded into tiny pieces of paper. Water containing body fluids such as saliva or blood can activate the paper. If there is a bit of Ebola RNA in it, it will make the paper change colours. "We were surprised at how well these materials worked after being freeze dried," team leader Jim Collins told the BBC.

The paper discs are still not completely ready to be taken for testing in west Africa. Still, the discs that can identify the virus are evolving so that they can be used as a "cheap, simple method" to find out infections, according to newscientist.com. In just 12 hours, at a cost of just $20, the experiment was completed and reported in the journal Cell. The sensor was made with the help of a "toehold switch," that can control gene expression, which is "very flexible and highly programmable," according to rtnews. At first, the toehold switch was made to function within living cells, yet one of the teams went on to shift the function to the colour-changing paper. The toehold switch can be altered to emit visual signs while identifying certain bacteria or viruses. It would do so through an RNA signature, or a genetic code that would be able to detect infectious agents, including bacteria, viruses, yeast and parasites.

In this case, there is a strain-specific Ebola sensor, which would produce proteins if it identifies only a specific strain. The protein changes the paper's color from yellow to purple within an hour if it finds out one of two Ebola strains. The scientists worked only to identify two strains out of five. Team leader Jim Collins said that it will open up a "whole generation of new technologies for diagnosis."

The experiment has extended synthetic biology beyond laboratories. The genetic machinery of cells has been taken and "embedded in the fiber matrix of paper." This can then be "freeze dried" for storage and transport to any place, which would help people to understand the health and environment around them, according to Keith Pardee, another member of the research team. Each piece of the detection paper is very cheap, costing just between just 4 and 65 cents.