Superbugs like MRSA and C. difficile may be detectable more quickly — and easily — than ever before thanks to research out of McMaster University in Canada.

Using their new method, the researchers say they can detect the smallest traces of metabolites, or DNA fragments, indicative of the infectious disease in either respiratory or gastrointestinal body regions.

In a statement, John Brennan, director of McMaster's Biointerfaces Institute, describes the level of specificity as "unprecedented."

"The test has the best sensitivity ever reported for a detection system of this kind — it is as much as 10,000 times more sensitive than other detection systems," he added.

The test, which can be run under ordinary circumstances and without the aid of complicated equipment, depends on a molecular device made of DNA that can be activated by a molecule of the clinician's choosing.

The chosen molecule would be representative of the virus genome pertaining to the superbug in question, and triggers an amplified signal when the suspected bacteria is present.

Calling it the foundation for future diagnostic tests, Yingfu Li, a professor in the Departments of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, said the invention is not only limited to superbugs — but will allow researchers to detect any bacterial contamination they might be interested in.

Those abilities could even extend to detecting molecular biomarkers for cancer, said Li, "Our method can sensitively detect all of them, and it can do so in a relatively short period of time."

Currently, the team is working on moving the test onto a paper surface so it could be administered at the point of care. McMaster's Biointerfaces Institute has already developed a series of paper-based technologies for determining infection or contamination in people, food, or the environment.

The method is described online in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

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