Molecular testing

Intellectual property payments have been among the most rapidly increasing costs for molecular tests in the past few years. Early in the art, there were few... 

On the horizon are two new methods that are at the margin between the microelectronics industry and biotechnology One is the ability to visualize the results of a molecular test using electronic sensors the other is the capacity to alter molecular hybridization conditions through the use of electric fields. Each of these is likely to cause a stir among molecular diagnosticians. 

Based on the clinical suspicion of a cholesterol biosynthesis defect, the first line of diagnosis for these various defects often involves sterol analysis in patient material where detection of a specific sterol intermediate is indicative for the respective defect. Confirmative diagnostic procedures involve enzymatic assays and/or molecular testing. 

For all defects, molecular testing through sequencing of the respective genes is available. Molecular testing is also the primary choice for prenatal testing [9]. 

Litvaitis, M. and Rhode, K. (1999) A molecular test of platyhelminth phylogeny inferences from partial 28S rDNA sequences. Invertebrate Biology 1 18, 42-56. 

Bruns, D. E. Lo, Y. M. D. Wittwer, C. Molecular Testing in Laboratory Medicine Selections from Clinical Chemistry, 1998—2001, with Annotations and Updates. AACC Press Washington, DC, 2002. 

Genetic disease testing and research — The scientific literature contains descriptions of the uses and advantages of PNAs in nearly every molecular testing format, as applied to many different genetic diseases (5). 

Furche F (2001) Molecular tests of the random phase approximation to the exchange-correlation energy functional, Phys Rev B, 64(19) Art. No. 195120... 

Compared to past laboratory testing, newer molecular testing sometimes has unique information needs and sample storage requirements. Requisitions, consent, records, and sample retention are reviewed in this section. 

HCV, an RNA virus, is a major cause of chronic liver disease. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) of 1988-1994, approximately 4 million Americans were infected with HCV and 2.7 million were estimated to have chronic infection. After acute infection, 80% to 85% of individuals develop a chronic infection, and 2% to 4% of these individuals develop cirrhosis and end-stage liver disease, making end-stage liver disease secondary to HCV the most common indication for fiver transplantation in the United States. The development of molecular testing for HCV infection has been a major advance in the clinical care of infected individuals, because the virus cannot be grown in a culture. 

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