Higher Quality of Molecular Testing, an Unfulfilled Priority

Pharmacogenetic Testing-An Unfulfilled Promise.

The Human Genome Project heralded great hope that the clinical use of individual genetic information would result in improved care through treatments tailored to an individual patient’s genotype. Such treatment would presumably reveal individual susceptibility to chronic diseases, thus preventing them, and lead to targeted pharmacotherapies based on an individual’s metabolism and susceptibility...

Molecular Testing in Microbiology

There are significant challenges associated with qualitative and quantitative nucleic acid tests performed in diagnostic laboratories. The development of internationally available certified reference materials which can be traced to reference measurements will contribute to a better understanding of the performance characteristics of nucleic acid tests and enhance reliability and comparability ...

Eradication of rheumatic fever: an unfulfilled hope.

SUMMARY Rheumatic heart disease is considered one of the few forms of chronic heart disease which can be effectively prevented today. Yet the incidence of rheumatic fever is still appreciable and the complacency of many physicians and public health officials in regard to the rheumatic fever problem is unwarranted. It is timely, therefore, to reexamine the question of whether this disease can in...

Quality assurance in molecular genetic testing laboratories.

CONTEXT Specific regulation of laboratories performing molecular genetic tests may be needed to ensure standards and quality assurance (QA) and safeguard patient rights to informed consent and confidentiality. However, comprehensive analysis of current practices of such laboratories, important for assessing the need for regulation and its impact on access to testing, has not been conducted. O...

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