England’s National Health Service to Offer Widespread Rapid Whole Genome Sequencing for Children and Babies

Research in the UK and US into how rapid WGS can prevent deaths and improve outcomes for kids with rare genetic diseases may lead to more genetic testing based in local clinical laboratories Genetic scientists with the National Health Service (NHS) in England have embarked on an ambitious plan to offer rapid whole genome sequencing (rWGS) for children and babies with serious illnesses, as part of a larger initiative to embrace genomic medicine in the United Kingdom (UK). The NHS estimates that...

Does Giving a Patient a $75 Gift Card to Send in a Clinical Laboratory Test Specimen Violate Federal Fraud Laws? A Whistleblower Lawsuit Argues ‘Yes!’

Novel scheme by medical laboratory company to induce patients to collect and return their own specimen for testing is central to a federal whistleblower case alleging violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute Handing out gift cards only to patients who return a specimen to a clinical laboratory company for colorectal cancer screening is a unique approach that is now at the center of a federal qui tamcase filed by a retired Indiana pathologist. The defendant in this whistleblower lawsuit is Exact...

University of Washington Researchers Use Genomic Analysis to Track Shigella Infections as Decreased Cost of Gene Sequencing Aids Public Health Research

Another study in the United Kingdom that also used genomic analysis to understand drug-resistant Shigella produced findings that may be useful for microbiologists and medical laboratory scientists From the onset of an infectious disease outbreak, public health officials, microbiologists, and clinical laboratory managers find it valuable to trace the origin of the spread back to the “index case” or “patient zero”—the first documented patient in the disease epidemic. Given the decreased cost of...

Genomic Scientists Are Working to Make Human Reference Genome More Inclusive by Expanding the Pangenome

Project aims to create a new pangenome for genetic testing that will ensure better clinical laboratory testing and healthcare outcomes Recent advances in genetics are motivating some scientists to proclaim the need to update the existing “master human genome”—currently based on a single individual’s genetic sequence—to make it more inclusive. This international research effort will have implications for personalized clinical laboratory testing and precision medicine. Genetic scientists at the...

Australian Researchers Discover New Form of Antimicrobial Resistance in Findings That Have Implications for Microbiology Laboratories

Study findings could lead to new biomarker targets for clinical laboratories working to identify AMR bacteria Reducing and managing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major goal of researchers and health systems across the globe. And it is the job of microbiologists and clinical laboratories to identify microbes that are AMR and those which are not to guide physicians as to the most appropriate therapies for patients with bacterial infections. Thus, a recent discovery by researchers at the...

Researchers at Rockefeller University and HHMI Identify Biomarker That Makes People “Mosquito Magnets”

These new insights might lead to a new line of clinical laboratory testing, particularly if the results could guide the patient to microbiome-based repellents that would remain effective for months once applied Researchers are beginning to identify what compounds make individuals more attractive to mosquitos. That is a first step in the development of a biomarker that could be developed into a clinical laboratory test. Question is: would there be enough consumers wanting to do a lab test to...
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