Techniques in Molecular Diagnostics

The book covers from the very basic introduction on molecular biology and diagnostics to the protocols of advanced assays that can be offered by a diagnostic laboratory. There is detailed description on the requirements for setting up a laboratory. The chapter on laboratory mathematics will help the reader in preparation of common laboratory solutions. The book contains basic protocols to perform nucleic acid extraction from different sources. These protocols can be effortlessly applied to isolate high quality DNA and RNA from human blood and tissues. The book is profusely explained with various molecular diagnostic tools which are easy to understand and can be applied in diagnosis of different cancers. This book also presents with examples of biomarker detection protocols for specific cancer type using molecular diagnostic tools which can easily be reproduced. These protocols are very sensitive, cost effective and can be performed to provide faster and accurate diagnosis. The last part of the book deliberates on the quality assurance and quality control strategies of a molecular diagnostic laboratory. Special emphasis is made on specific guidelines to design quality manuals for a molecular diagnostic laboratory.