When at-home testing kits become low-cost and easy to use, Zhang replied, they will democratize and decentralize medicine. The most important next steps will be innovations in “microfluidics,” which involves channeling tiny amounts of liquid in a device, and then connecting the information to our cell phones. That will allow us all, in the privacy of our homes, to test our saliva and blood for hundreds of medical indicators, monitor our health conditions on our phones, and share the data with doctors and researchers.
