Nov 13, 2015 | Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations
Lab-on-a-chip technology could reduce the time needed to identify infection-causing bacteria and for physicians to prescribe correct antibiotics
Pathology groups and medical laboratories may see their role in the patient-care process grow if researchers succeed in developing culture-independent diagnostic tools that quickly identify bacterial infections as well as pinpoint the antibiotics needed to treat them.
In the battle against antibiotic-resistant infections (AKA “super bugs”) the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is funding nine research projects aimed at thwarting the growing problem of life-threatening infections that no longer are controlled or killed by today’s arsenal of drugs.
Common Practices in Hospitals Leading to Super Bugs
Currently, when infections are suspected in hospitals or other settings where illness can quickly spread, samples are sent to a central medical laboratory where it may take up to three days to determine what germ is causing the infection. Because of that delay, physicians often prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics based on a patient’s symptoms rather than lab test results, a practice that can lead to the growth of antibiotic-resistant microbes. (more…)
Mar 13, 2015 | Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
New public database gives clinical laboratory researchers a single, searchable source for non-coding RNA data, thus aiding development of new diagnostic assays
Clinical laboratories involved in next-generation gene sequencing have a new single searchable database for RNA. Experts say that this database should help research and development of medical laboratory tests for clinical purposes.
The launch of RNAcentral now provides RNA biologists and other researchers with an open resource that offers integrated access to a comprehensive, up-to-date set of non-coding RNA sequences. This is a first step to building a repository of information for non-coding RNAs that is similar to the Universal Protein Resource (UniProt) database for proteins.
RNAcentral is the brainchildof the RNAcentral Consortium, a large international collaboration of more than 30 expert databases that specialize in different types of non-coding RNAs. So far, 12 of these databases have been integrated into RNAcentral. The project is hosted by the European Bioinformatics Institute and funded by a United Kingdom Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) grant. (more…)
Mar 11, 2015 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
These genetic tests cut time to answer from days to a few hours, reducing the risk of exposing non-infected patients and improving outcomes for Ebola patients
In response to the continuing outbreak of Ebola in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, more attention has been given to medical laboratory testing in these countries, along with a rush to develop diagnostic tests that can detect Ebola faster and more accurately without the need for state-of-the art clinical laboratories that are uncommon in those nations.The lack of even limited basic services in the region, such as electricity, hinders any attempt to install modern diagnostic facilities and clinical laboratories essential to controlling and preventing further spread of the disease. Another issue is the lack of trained pathologists, Ph.Ds., and clinical laboratory scientists to staff such labs in those nations.
One solution to this challenge, however, is for developed nations to provide mobile medical laboratories and hospital facilities. Such resources have been contributed by the United States, Canada, and several European countries. (more…)
Feb 27, 2015 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations
Demand for a rapid, accurate diagnostic solution to combat Ebola is motivating research teams in many countries to develop solutions that can be put to immediate use
In West Africa, the outbreak of Ebola in several countries motivated researchers in Germany to develop a fast, accurate, and inexpensive test that could be performed in patient care settings without the need for a centralized medical laboratory.
In these West African countries, lack of electricity and reliable cold storage or diagnostic equipment handicaps clinical laboratory technicians who are testing patients for the Ebola virus. A new test developed by researchers at the German Primate Center (DPZ) in Göttingen, Germany, cuts the time to answer an Ebola diagnosis to just 15 minutes. It requires no electricity and is portable. Previously, the fastest Ebola diagnostics test took three hours to get results and required transporting samples to often-distant medical laboratories. (more…)
Dec 1, 2014 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Scientists participating in the modENCORE study have the goal of understanding the causes of hereditary genetic diseases in humans
New discoveries about the interaction of genes and transcription factors in creating different types of RNA will be of interest to pathologists and clinical chemists performing genetic tests and molecular diagnostic assays in their medical laboratories.
The goal of this research is to better understand hereditary genetic disease in humans. The new knowledge is based on studies of the common fruit fly, or Drosophila melanogaster (D. Melanogaster), and to a lesser extent a tiny worm Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Both have been used as research models to study the human condition.
Research Could Give Pathologists New Diagnostic Tools (more…)
