Features

With throughput no longer the major limiting factor in drug screening, focus now lies on how to improve quality

The ultracold storage needs of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine compounds the challenges inherent to vaccinating rural populations

mRNA vaccines employ a novel strategy to stimulate immunity against coronavirus spike proteins

Clinical labs operating LDTs must develop their own holistic quality architecture

To make objective, data-driven decisions to benefit the lab, managers need to be educated about the different types of cognitive biases and seek mechanisms to offset them

Leadership training programs will help clinical and anatomic pathology laboratories prepare for the challenges ahead

Strategies that can help clinical lab managers gain control in uncertain times

To overcome the challenges of NGS, researchers have turned to third-generation or long-read sequencing technologies

NGS and sophisticated bioinformatics algorithms are improving the accuracy with which the homologous genes, such as SMN1 and SMN2, involved in inherited disorders can be mapped

Next-generation sequencing can identify known and novel genetic mutations that underlie complex neurological disorders

From discovery and development to clinical applications

Approaches clinical laboratories can take to reduce diagnostic blood loss

Screening for blood cell mutations can identify those at greater risk for hematologic cancers and cardiovascular disease

As new compounds and masking agents continue to emerge, analytical methods must evolve to enable their detection

Recent research reveals a complex interaction between the microbiome and the immune system in pancreatic cancer

How to avoid potential hazards

Recent evidence suggests procalcitonin tests may be able to identify COVID-19 patients with bacterial coinfections to guide antibiotic treatment

The least documented of advanced quality rules are those which rely on the broader sample context

ADME profoundly affects a drug’s properties and has long been a cornerstone of pharmacology and drug discovery

Researchers are using patient-derived tumor organoids to match patients with optimal treatments