Like a smartphone, it would combine electronics and software into a seamless user interface for any setting, but it would also, with laboratory-like precision, process human body fluids with fickle mixtures of biological and chemical reagents. It is little wonder that such devices have not yet made it to market.

Nevertheless, recent results from a compact benchtop machine called GeneXpert make it easy to grasp how big an impact such a device could have. GeneXpert can diagnose TB drug resistance within a few hours, and it’s simple enough to be used by relatively nontechnical staff in remote clinics situated close to at-risk populations. It now seems likely that this machine will offer early diagnosis for many TB patients in far-flung places, giving them a chance to be treated with effective drugs.

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