Loop-mediated isothermal amplification: Beyond microbial identification

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was introduced in the year 2000 by Notomi, as a highly sensitive, specific, and cost-effective technique for microbial identification. LAMP, a simple DNA amplification technique, with its fieldamenable nature has been used to detect a variety of pathogens including viruses, fungi, bacteria, and parasites and in most of the cases it surpasses polymerase chain reaction. However, literature world has seen different set of research articles surfacing in last 5–6 years which are good example for thinking out of box. This review is the summation of selected LAMP assays which are used for different purposes other than microbial detection. This is an effort to provide a brief idea about how a small innovation to already established technique in one field can help other fields too. This review is a rundown of all the LAMP assays reported so far other than the ones which are reported for the identification of microbes. These include the implementation of LAMP assay in the field of molecular diagnosis of cancer, identification of genetically modified organisms, detection of food adulteration, eutrophication, food allergens, pesticides, identification of medicinal plants, drug resistance, and DNA methylation studies. Subjects: Food Analysis; Fruit & Vegetables; Nutraceuticals Functional Foods