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Research & Development

Benefits of Molecular Diagnostics

Molecular Diagnostic Solutions
for the 21st Century

Over the last decade Molecular Diagnostics has become the gold standard for transplant and transfusion diagnostics, oncology and infectious disease testing.

With regard to infectious disease, molecular diagnostics has major advantages over the sole use of serology. Molecular diagnostics is a more sensitive method allowing detection of lower amounts of infectious agents and therefore giving the ability to detect infections earlier than was previously possible. This ability is especially significant in blood screening. Prior to the advent of molecular diagnostics being applied to blood screening, antibodies or antigens were solely used to detect contaminated blood samples. Due to the delay in production of antibodies (seroconversion) or the generation of significant amount of antigens, the window period, the time between infection and ability to detect infection, was significantly longer for serology only testing methods.

 
 
 

In addition to viral screening and detection, molecular diagnostics is now also applied to treatment guidance and monitoring. Real-Time PCR provides an effective yet simple tool to establish efficacy of therapy and modify treatment when appropriate. Nucleic acid sequencing can also be used to identify and differentiate specific viral strains. This is important in the case of HPV infection, whereby some strains are associated with a non-malignant outcome whereas others have a high correlation with the development of cervical cancer.

Out of all the available molecular diagnostics platforms, TBG is focused on the development of traditional PCR, sequencing, and Real Time PCR. Using these 3 methods, TBG is able to design everything from highthroughput low cost screening solutions to high resolution sequence based genotyping. Based on these methods, TBG has developed In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) products for HLA genotyping, HPA genotyping, and the detection of autoimmune diseases.

At TBG, molecular diagnostics is at the core of what we do as we continue to provide quality diagnostic tests for various applications.