Molecular Diagnostics - Current Research and Applications

Abstract

The application of molecular technology in clinical diagnosis is a rapidly developing area and is predicted to greatly improve the speed, efficiency and accuracy of diagnostic medicine. The editors of this book have commissioned an excellent series of chapters representing two key molecular diagnostic areas: cancer and infectious diseases. The cancer section deals with the challenges in identifying genetic, epigenetic and transcriptomic biomarkers. The infectious disease section describes the current clinical applications of molecular diagnostics for the detection of viral, bacterial and fungal pathogens as well as an example of the use of molecular diagnostics outside the clinic environment. A cautionary tale describing what can go wrong when molecular methods are applied incorrectly is also provided and makes fascinating reading. A substantial component of the book is dedicated to the process of translating a preclinical test to the bedside and describes the progress in the near patient point-of-care molecular diagnostics market. This is a fundamental consideration for successful translation of diagnostics tests from bench to bedside and is crucial for molecular diagnostics to have an impact on patient care. The final chapter offers a prediction of future trends in the molecular diagnostics of infectious diseases. This volume is essential reading for anyone involved in the development or application of molecular diagnostics and is recommended for all clinical diagnostics laboratories.