Swedish researchers use smartphone for DNA analysis

Swedish researchers have managed to perform a DNA analysis using a microscope that uses a smartphone camera. The intention is to make such analyzes possible outside of laboratories.

Sequencing DNA using a smartphone is not yet something that people can do at home. Setting up the supplies and operating the equipment still requires a lab worker, say the researchers in the journal Nature. Nevertheless, DNA sequencing is becoming possible in places where there is no laboratory and where medical specialists cannot quickly reach a lab.

The setup works with a Nokia Lumia 1020, a phone that can take 38 megapixel images with a 1/1.5″ sensor. The researchers inserted an external lens in front of it to enable 2.6x magnification. In addition, a white LED and two lasers for the required light.The DNA sequencing to analyze cancer tumors turned out to work flawlessly via the setup with the prototype.

It has become much more common in recent years for researchers to use smartphones to make medical devices that could previously only be used in laboratories portable, so that they can be available in remote areas. For example, accessories have been published for testing HIV and syphilis and brain scans, for example.