The rise of qPCR testing in clinical diagnostics

The rise of qPCR testing in clinical diagnostics

Stephen Riffle

Over nearly 30 years, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) has developed into an essential tool. It allows researchers to amplify and quantify the presence of specific DNA sequences. While there has been widespread adoption in research settings, the introduction of qPCR into clinical ones has been halting and incomplete. Changes tend to arrive slowly when lives are at stake.

Faced with the fast and often asymptomatic spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, clinical laboratories had to rethink qPCR and its potential. The technology is rapid, accurate and scalable, making it ideal for large-scale viral testing. In the span of months, clinical and diagnostics labs around the world began investing heavily in qPCR equipment and infrastructure.

Advancing point-of-care diagnostics with an ancient process

Advancing point-of-care diagnostics with an ancient process

Stephen Riffle
Other

With infectious diseases, time is of the essence. Doctors can more easily treat and prevent the spread of diseases such as tuberculosis, Ebola and COVID-19 when they can rapidly and accurately identify new infections. But testing often requires bulky machinery, specialized training and significant capital—all of which can be difficult to find outside of centralized laboratories. Every moment a sample spends in transit, or in a queue at a laboratory, the ability to respond to infectious diseases diminishes.

As molecular diagnostics have developed—most of which rely upon compounds or enzymes suspended in liquid—researchers have been exploring ways to overcome the challenges associated with point-of-care diagnostics. That work did not lead them to a new technique, but an ancient one: freeze-drying, known technically as lyophilization.

Improving biosecurity in the age of advanced DNA synthesis

Improving biosecurity in the age of advanced DNA synthesis

Stephen Riffle
Synthetic Biology

Synthetic biology is the practice of redesigning natural biological systems for useful purposes. Through synthetic biology, researchers can engineer microorganisms to consume environmental pollutants or aid in the manufacturing of sustainable fuels. The potential benefits of synthetic biology are many and profound, but in the wrong hands, while very rare, the tools of synthetic biology could be used to cause harm. As such, the scientific community must take special care to develop safeguards that prevent the misuse of these tools without suppressing growth and innovation in this dynamic field.

Saving the Right Whale: AUV’s and the Future of Whale Conservation

Saving the Right Whale: AUV’s and the Future of Whale Conservation

Stephen Riffle
Wildlife

When a species is on the brink, teetering at the edge of oblivion, every step towards conservation matters. This is particularly true for the North Atlantic Right Whale, a leviathan of ancient lore who is now among the most endangered mammals on the planet. Preservation of this species for future generations will require innovative and fast approaches to seemingly intractable issues like climate change. Decisive action to both reduce and maximally mitigate the common threats posed by noise pollution and ship strikes are required.

Sound beneath the waves

Sound beneath the waves

Stephen Riffle
Other, Wildlife

Unlike Space where lightwaves can travel vast distances without being scattered or absorbed, light can only travel short distances in water before it fades from repeated, energy draining collisions with water molecules. As a result, most of Earth’s ocean space exists in darkness, beyond the reach of both light and human exploration. Marine animals have evolved to navigate, communicate, and hunt without light by using sound to illuminate their environment. And, increasingly, humans are doing the same. Here, we’ll briefly explore how sound is being used by animals and humans to render ocean depths visible.

Sensitive detection of methylation patterns in cell-free DNA opens doors for early cancer detection

Sensitive detection of methylation patterns in cell-free DNA opens doors for early cancer detection

Stephen Riffle
NGS Applications, Genetics

In the milieu of rushing blood, plasma, and cells, small wayward bits of DNA are easy to overlook. But stored within these scraps of genetic material, known as cell-free DNA (cfDNA), is information offering the earliest glimpses of cancer development. Being able to detect and understand these signals could dramatically improve our ability to detect and treat cancer before the disease has developed.

From Gloves to Benches: Recycling Plastic to Improve Biotechnology’s Sustainability

From Gloves to Benches: Recycling Plastic to Improve Biotechnology’s Sustainability

Stephen Riffle
Other

In building towards a greener future, Twist Bioscience has built sustainability into its DNA synthesis platform. Through miniaturized chemistry, Twist enables massive scaling of the DNA synthesis process while also greatly reducing the company’s chemical footprint. But, to truly work towards a sustainable future, laboratories have to go beyond their products to address the challenge of sustainable science.

Using Massively Parallel Reporter Assays (MPRAs) to elucidate the function of genetic variation

Using Massively Parallel Reporter Assays (MPRAs) to elucidate the function of genetic variation

Stephen Riffle
Genetics

98% of the human genome consists of non-protein-coding DNA, much of which has unknown functions. Nonetheless, noncoding DNA houses important genetic elements that can alter gene expression levels through genetic and epigenetic means, such as enhancers, silencers, promoters, and other so-called regulatory elements. The average protein-coding gene is governed by multiple non-coding regulatory elements whose activity can vary in a context-dependent manner, making it exceedingly difficult to both identify these elements and link them to the transcriptional activity of specific genes. Without a detailed understanding of these regulatory elements, potentially clinically relevant information coded within the growing influx of genetic data will remain undiscovered. To help convert data into knowledge, researchers are turning to Massively Parallel Reporter Assays (MPRAs).

Targeted RNA-Seq Expands the Toolkit for Early Cancer Detection

Targeted RNA-Seq Expands the Toolkit for Early Cancer Detection

Stephen Riffle
NGS Applications

RNA-seq is an essential research tool that holds exciting prospects for the early detection of cancer. However, in clinical samples highly abundant mRNA and rRNA sequences obscure rarer RNA subtypes that may hold the keys to early cancer detection, such as long non-coding RNA. Here we dive into recent research from the University of Ghent outlining the use of targeted RNA-seq to enrich lncRNA from various sample types and discuss how recent advances make target enrichment an invaluable tool for high-resolution RNA-seq experiments.

Improve Sequencing Quality with Low-Error NGS Library Preparation

Improve Sequencing Quality with Low-Error NGS Library Preparation

Stephen Riffle
NGS Applications

In this article, we highlight how quality library preparation reduces sequencing error rates while providing high-yield sequencing libraries. Twist has just upgraded its suite of library preparation tools by creating the Library Preparation Enzymatic Fragmentation (EF) Kit 2.0. We detail how this kit has been built to help you achieve better quality library preparation for better sequencing results.

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