Modernization of the Medical Sherlock Holmes.

The article offers an overview of the paper published within the issue which reports on the use of Virochip, a DNA microarray sensor, to detect viruses in respiratory tract infection. Under the investigation, researchers validated the use of Virochip to detect respiratory viruses on adults with and without asthma. Results suggest that Virochip is capable of detecting virtually all know respiratory viruses, such as human rhinovirus (HRV), coronavirus and influenza virus. The detector also determines new respiratory viruses, allowing the researchers to determine unanticipated diversity among HRV isolates.