Molecular Diagnostics

C. Difficile Bacteria Adapted to Spread in Hospitals

Clostridioides difficile, also known as Clostridium difficile, bacteria can infect the gut and are the leading cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea worldwide. While someone is healthy and not taking antibiotics, millions of 'good' bacteria in the gut keep the C. difficile under control. More...
29 Aug 2019

Image: The CFX96 Touch RT-PCR detection system (Photo courtesy of Bio-Rad Laboratories).

Enterovirus Antibodies Detected in Acute Flaccid Myelitis Patients

Neurotropic enteroviruses (EVs), such as poliovirus, have long been associated with paralytic disease. Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) has caused motor paralysis in more than 560 children in the United States since 2014. More...
28 Aug 2019

Image: Human pancreatic islet stained with glucagon antibody (red) and insulin antibody (blue). Glucagon is produced by alpha cells, while beta cells produce insulin (Photo courtesy of University of Turku).

Signature for Beta-Cell Autoimmunity Predicts Type 1 Diabetes

The appearance of Type 1 diabetes (T1D)-associated autoantibodies is the first and only measurable parameter to predict progression toward T1D in genetically susceptible individuals. More...
28 Aug 2019

Mutations Linked to Familial Pancreatic Cancer Identified

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is an aggressive cancer with limited treatment options. Approximately 10% of cases exhibit familial predisposition, but causative genes are not known in most families. More...
28 Aug 2019

Image: A histopathological image of cerebral glioblastoma (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).

Potential Biomarkers Found in Glioblastoma Small Extracellular Vesicles

Tumor small extracellular vesicles (sEVs), which are accessible in biofluids such as blood, contain valuable biomarkers for glioblastoma (GBM) patient diagnosis and follow-up. More...
26 Aug 2019

Image: Follicular helper T-cells (cells with green surface markers) interact closely with B-cells (cells with orange surface markers) to facilitate the proliferation of B- cells and the production of high affinity antibodies. The interaction site is shown in yellow, DNA in blue (Photo courtesy of Joyce Hu, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology).

Specialized White Blood Cells Prove Biomarkers for Diabetes Progression

Researchers have found that a specialized class of circulating white blood cells (CXCR5−PD-1hi Tph cells) are associated with progression for autoantibody positivity to clinical type I diabetes and have the potential to serve as biomarkers to monitor progression of this disease. More...
26 Aug 2019

$Image: Researchers used metallic ink to screen-print an antenna and sensor onto a stretchable sticker designed to adhere to skin and track pulse and other health indicators, and transmit these readings to a receiver on a person\'s clothing (Photo courtesy of Bao Lab, Stanford University).$