Yolk-sac inoculation of embryonated eggs was superseded 25 years ago by the use of cell cultures (often McCoy) for the isolation of Chlamydia trachomatis. Centrifugation of specimens onto the cell monolayers was shown to increase sensitivity, but little of late has further improved sensitivity which is at least ten-fold greater than that of eggs. However, culture is slow and labour intensive so...

The SP-4 culture medium, developed originally for newly isolated plant and insect mycoplasmas (spiroplasmas), has markedly improved the recovery of Mycoplasma pneumoniae from human clinical materials. This medium, in combination with a direct fluorescent antibody test, can enhance the recovery and identification of the organism by 30-40 percent over conventional culture procedures. Although the...

A door may be opening into what could be a treasure house of diagnostic information. For many years the resonance of protons in a magnetic field has been exploited by biochemists, who have a comprehensive range of procedures to elicit all spectral responses of which spinning nuclei are capable. These responses depend on two factors; one is the immediate intramolecular environtment of the proton...