Molecular Diagnostics

$Image: A newly developed molecular test could detect Alzheimer\'s disease at a pre-symptomatic state. The results indicated that multivariate analysis of transcripts in blood samples can provide an accurate and minimally invasive strategy for diagnosis of AD and early detection of AD risk (Image courtesy of Arizona State University; Graphic by Jason Drees).$

Molecular Blood Test Could Identify Alzheimer's

A new multivariate molecular test is being developed that includes testing for genes to identify people at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and testing of peripheral blood leukocyte RNA transcripts to provide early diagnosis of people with AD. The new method distinguished between Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and healthy controls, indicating that it can pick out AD from other degenerative brain conditions. More...
06 Sep 2017

Image: Staining of human cell line U-2 OS with fluorescently labeled SP110 antibody shows localization of the protein to the nucleus (Photo courtesy of Novus Biologicals).

New Assay Facilitates Diagnosis of Rare Infant Disease

A novel flow cytometric assay that is easily performed in diagnostic laboratories was developed to improve the ability to diagnose the rare syndrome, hepatic veno-occlusive disease with immunodeficiency (VODI). More...
05 Sep 2017

Image: Paper-based diagnostic device that detects biomarkers and identifies diseases by performing electrochemical analyses. The assays change color to indicate specific test results. The device can be plugged into the handheld potentiostat, at left (Photo courtesy of Purdue University, Aniket Pal).

Disposable POC Device Introduced for Low-Resource Areas

A recent paper described a novel diagnostic device fabricated from various types of paper to be used for point-of-care testing in areas lacking electricity and other resources. More...
05 Sep 2017

Test Detects Cancer Mutations from Circulating DNA

In cancer patients, apoptotic and necrotic tumor cells release their DNA content into the blood. This is commonly referred to as circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA); and can be used for DNA sequencing or molecular genotyping assays to identify and quantitatively measure those ctDNA molecules bearing somatic mutations. More...
30 Aug 2017

$Image: An example of a TaqMan Low Density Array card; each well contains a specific miRNA forward primer, a specific miRNA TaqMan probe, and a reverse \"tail\" primer (Photo courtesy of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute).$