THE SOUND of a flying virus could soon give doctors quicker, cheaper
diagnoses. The trick is to pick up the telltale noise a virus makes as it breaks
free from a vibrating quartz crystal.
Matthew Cooper and his team at Cambridge University coat a crystal with
antibodies to a test virus and introduce the virus itself so that it binds to
the antibodies. An electric current is applied to make the crystal vibrate. Then
the researchers turn up the voltage to make the crystal vibrate faster until a
virus particle is shaken off, making a tiny sound as it goes.…
