Transference of reference intervals in the validation of automated chemiluminescent immunoassays on a new platform.

quencer, confirming the high quality of the purified DNA. This is reflected by the high A260/A280 ratio (Table 1) and was confirmed by agarose gel electrophoresis. The silica matrix offers a degree of flexibility in optimizing the mass of matrix required to bind sufficient DNA for the application, whereas the silica discs provide a laminar format perhaps more suitable for molecular diagnostic device development because of their ease of handling. Furthermore, the silica matrix used in this study is nonporous, which not only reduces the likelihood of contaminant carryover from step to step, a consideration when using conventional porous silica materials, but also permits small elution volumes with high recovery. DNA isolation is gaining importance in the fields of molecular diagnostics. In the present study, we report two approaches to isolation of high-quality DNA from a prokaryotic source in a relatively short time. By way of comparison, we report a similar purification by ion exchange using DEAE-Magarose (6). Although this yields DNA of greater purity, it is a slower process, and the DNA eluted requires desalting by precipitation before use. Depending on the intended use of the DNA, these issues may be of importance in selecting the most appropriate technique. Although the applications presented here are not clinical examples, they serve the purpose of demonstrating proof of concept for this type of diagnostic application. We feel that the adsorptive methods described here could be considered when developing a molecular diagnostic test protocol, and depending on the process requirements, an interaction with silica under chaotropic conditions using either particulate or laminar matrices may be suitable.