Eggbeaters Save Lives

Your eggbeater can do more than just scramble eggs.

A team of scientists at Harvard recently unveiled a low-cost and low-tech centrifuge replacement made from a common $2 eggbeater and some plastic tubing.

Centrifuges, used to separate plasma from blood, are critical in the detection of infectious diseases, but medical clinics in developing countries often don’t have access to the expensive, bulky, and difficult to operate machines.

The eggbeater contraption separates plasma from blood in minutes, well enough to detect diseases such as Hepatitis B and cysticercosis. It's portable and can be sterilized in boiling water for reuse.

Infectious diseases are currently responsible for half of the deaths in developing countries, but some chemists hope that could change if this low-tech technology catches on.

Click here to read the press release

Click here to read the scientists' report with photos