Slideshow: Handheld Delivers the 411 on DNA

The device requires no mechanical moving parts, no filtering, no valves and no fluid pumping of any kind. A tiny magnet jumps into a well of fluid, grabs some DNA (from a drop of blood, for example), jumps into another well to rinse itself off, then another. In the last well, it spins around and releases the DNA of interest and makes it ready for a clinician to identify.

Hermes takes a very simple approach to a complicated endeavor: isolating and purifying a patient's DNA in order to get accurate and fast diagnoses.