News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel

News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel
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More Use of Whole Gene Sequencing Poised to Play Important New Roles in Microbiology and Medical Laboratory Testing

Cheaper, faster, and more accurate rapid gene sequencing technologies show great promise in identifying infectious disease agents

In clinical laboratories across the nation, microbiology has greatly benefited from the introduction of molecular diagnostics in clinical practice. Now the field of microbiology is poised to undergo a more profound transformation of clinical practice, due to advances in whole genome sequencing.

Leaders in this field are calling these developments “transformative” and say they have the potential to change “all aspects of microbiology.” The driver to this emerging trend is advanced technology that makes it possible to sequence the whole gene sequence of an organism in a day or less, for a cost that is $1,000 and falling rapidly.

In the past six months, microbiologists and pathologists at such hospitals as Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, have begun to do whole genome sequencing of microbes found in specimens collected from patients arriving in the emergency room. The New York Times wrote about these developments in a story titled “The New Generation of Microbe Hunters,” that it published on August 29, 2011.

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Three Trends in High-Throughput Gene Sequencing for Pathologists and Clinical Laboratory Managers

Two experts predict that tomorrow’s gene sequencing systems may render large swaths of today’s clinical laboratory obsolete

Gene sequencing is the hot technology in both the biotech and clinical laboratory testing industries. That is because the cost of rapid gene sequencing systems is falling rapidly, even as the speed and accuracy of these latest-generation gene sequencers improves significantly.

It is important that medical laboratories managers and pathologists understand the consequences of this technology development curve. The constantly-improving capabilities of these systems means that rapid gene sequencing and whole human genome sequencing will soon take their place in clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups.
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