November 2001

Nothing to Sneeze At

By Technology Review

A new, biochip-based allergy test may soon tell you everything you're allergic to from just a single drop of blood. That's good news for the 50 million or so Americans who suffer from allergies-often without knowing it. Conventional allergy testing requires either injecting suspect allergens under the skin and watching for a reaction or sending a blood sample off for testing. Both methods are painful, cumbersome and costly.