Developers See Sample-Prep Cartridge As Key to Infectious Disease Tests

摘要

April 26, 2012 (PCR Insider) — Scientists from the Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences and KGI spinout Clafemont Biosolutions have been developing point-of-care molecular testing platforms and associated assays for Clostridium difficile,multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis, and herpes simplex virus, representatives from both organizations said recently. The groups are developing some of these platforms in collaboration and others separately, using different nucleic acid amplification anddetection schemes. However, all the platforms will use a common sample-prep cartridge that integrates technology developed by both groups and that performs mechanical lysis of bacterial cells or viruses and non-chemical nucleic acid extraction at a low cost, which is expected to significantly drive down the overall cost of the final systems.