Gold: a secret weapon for speedy test results

In the last 50 years, rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) have become a cornerstone of modern medicine, used to detect illnesses such as malaria, HIV, and more recently, COVID-19. In 2019 alone, 348m RDTs were sold by manufacturers, and 267m were distributed by national malaria programmes. RDTs for malaria employ gold nanoparticles to detect specific antigens (or proteins) produced by malaria parasites in the blood of infected individuals. The particles help produce a simple colour change that indicates the presence of malaria. Results can be available in just 15 minutes.

Find out more from the World Gold Council, The Guardian, and the World Health Organization.