we came up with a system to study the process to be used in a bso 2 setting. i remember for the first time seeing how it worked, it worked. it was one of the best moments in my life. >> reporter: eureka moments are rare in virology, when they happen, they have the potential to save millions of lives. basic treatments lead to treatments, vaccines and diagnostic tools. microbiologist worked with engineers to create a device to diagnose ebola. >> there was a good survivor rate when people are identified early and treated early >>> in west africa, getting a diagnosis is not fast. samples need to be sent to a specialised lap, often hundreds of miles away. days. >> what we settled on is a technology where basically what we do is take a silicon chip, and we can put capture agents that will bind to the ebola virus. and if the virus is present, the antibodies will capture the virus, and we can shine l.e.d. light on to the chip. this is the type of result you get back where you can say on the positive tests here, you can see there's a strong signal. >> results are avail