Methodology Information and Courses from MediaLab, Inc.
These are the MediaLab courses that cover Methodology and links to relevant pages within the course.
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| Overview To aid in the diagnosis of disease or identification of infectious agents, clinical laboratorians use a variety of methodologies to assist them. Knowing what to look for, or the right question to ask, is vital to obtaining the correct answer. Many diseases and agents have unique causes. The cause of the condition then becomes the "target" to be identified and perhaps even quantified. For example: If Patient A is suspected of having disease X, and disease X requires treatment, it is necessary to prove that disease X exists within patient A. We must know something about what causes disease X; is disease X an antigen, a bacteria, a viral particle, a missequenced piece of DNA?Once the target of interest (in this case Disease X) has been identified, the clinical laboratorian can choose the methodology most appropriate to answering the question, "Does disease X exist within Patient A?" | View Page |
| Transport Many clinical laboratories utilize reference laboratories for molecular methodology testing. Transport and shipping of biological specimens must follow laws and regulations governing these types of specimens. Consult your laboratory’s accrediting agency and reference lab for specific polices and procedures. | View Page |
| Selection Selection of the specific methodology will be dependent on each individual laboratory’s needs assessment of various factors including: Turn around time Cost Patient population Personnel competency Laboratory equipment requirements Laboratory space requirements Test complexity Result reporting | View Page |
| Advantages of Molecular Testing Molecular methodologies offer numerous advantages to the clinical laboratory. These include:Sensitivity: Amplification methodologies are particularly useful in increasing the sensitivity of a methodology and useful in the identification of target molecules of interest that are only present in low concentrations. Specificity: Molecular methods minimize false positive test results by targeting the specific molecule of interest.Turn Around Time: In comparison with standard traditional culture methods, molecular methodologies usually offer better turn around times from receipt to result reporting.Application: broader application can be found with molecular methodologies such as infectious diseases, genetic testing, forensics, drug resistance, and tumor marker detection and monitoring. | View Page |
| Amplification As seen in the preceding table of amplified nucleic acid test methodologies, any of the following can be amplified: Target (most common) Probe Signal When employing an amplification procedure, each methodology can differ based on: Amount of target Amplification type Enzyme requirements Thermal cycling (thermocycling) requirements Detection methodology | View Page |