After the allergy skin -test photo I recently posted, I was relieved to read about a firm receiving a Grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a more rapid, and more importantly, less intimidating, test to diagnose respiratory allergies.

"GenTel's new allergy test will rapidly identify a specific allergic response in a patient using only a few drops of blood," said Bryce Nelson, GenTel's vice president of research and development. "Our protein chip uses a new type of test called a multiplex assay to rapidly test a patient's blood for reactivity to many potential allergens at once."

The company hopes this will replace the skin puncture tests and blood draws. But don't go asking your allergists for this alternative just yet. The test won't be out in the market (or physicians' labs) for at least (!) 2 years.

GenTel's press release (pdf file) about the federal research grant may be downloaded here.