PositiveID Corporation has announced that it successfully detected methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on its Firefly Dx polymerase chain reaction (PCR) prototype pathogen detection system in less than 20 minutes.

The MRSA assay was run on the Firefly Dx prototype system, which is being developed as a handheld, fully automated, lab quality, real-time device able to detect these types of threats.

A design advantage of Firefly Dx is that it does not require additional equipment or separate steps for sample preparation and purification, unlike current lab-based equipment, thus reducing time to results as well as cost per test. In addition, there is significantly less chance of sample contamination compared to existing testing methods.