VietNamNet Bridge – With just a quick stick worth $0.01, physicians could correctly and quickly diagnosis patients’ illnesses and diseases, including cancer. This is the DNA/RNA reagent Viet Kieu scientist Vu Manh Huynh is hoping to produce in Vietnam.

Viet Kieu scientist Vu Manh Huynh

Huynh then spent one week visiting hospitals in Vietnam. He also visited Bach Mai Hospital, where he was shown the DNA/RNA reagent imported from the US.

This kind of substance is rarely used for normal patients because it is very expensive ($10 for each test). Currently, the substance is used sometimes for HIV-infected patients only.

He was told by Vietnamese doctors that in Vietnam, ELISA remains the main method to diagnose toxic protein and antibodies. They only use a DNA/RNA test to verify HIV-infected patients. Meanwhile, ELISA cannot show the level of bacterial contamination of patients.

With more than 40 years of experience working in laboratories in the US and Japan, Huynh believes that he can advance DNA/RNA technology in Vietnam.

Huynh said that in the world, DNA/RNA testing has been widely used to diagnose popular diseases like tuberculosis and cervical cancer. As for tuberculosis, if using DNA/RNA, the diagnosis can be carried out within 30 minutes and doctors can know exactly which bacteria patients have, where the bacteria came from and how the patients became infected. The information would help the state prevent the spread of diseases.

Low-cost DNA quick stick, why not?

Huynh said that it is absolutely possible for Vietnam to avoid cooking with harmful bacteria and prevent communicable diseases in Vietnam if it applied high technologies in pharmaceutical chemistry. Only DNA/RNA technology can provide the most reliable results.

DNA/RNA testing has not been widely used in Vietnam; it has just been utilised on a small scale in universities and biological researches. This spells that DNA/RNA testing has not become a technology in Vietnam.

Huynh, who has years of working on DNA research teams, especially for Applied Biosystem Inc, believes that it is just necessary to invest $300,000 in a system to produce 2mil units for each batch of products.

With such a low investment, DNA testing would have a very cheap price, just $0.01 for every quick stick, just 1/1000 of the price of one imported from the US. This means that every Vietnamese citizen would be able to access modern technology in diagnosing.

Huynh believes that the products could be exported to other countries and become a big money earner for Vietnam.

In order to turn the idea into reality, according to Huynh, Vietnam needs to have qualified and well-trained experts, a plant which has a GMP certificate (Good Manufacturing Practice) and modern equipment.

(Source: Tien phong)