News Release

Low sensitivity of clinical signatures

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BMC (BioMed Central)

Genomic signature sequences used by clinical researchers to detect, quantify and diagnose nucleic acid sequences are not inclusive enough. New research published today in BioMed Central's open access journal Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials shows that many published sequences are of unacceptably low sensitivity for most clinical applications.

According to Shea Gardner of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California, lead author of the study, "In recent years, real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) has become a leading technique for nucleic acid detection and quantification. In our analysis of the RT-PCR signatures described in recent literature, we found that many published sequences have a high specificity but only a very low sensitivity".

Gardner and co-author, Gordon Lemmon, suggest that a rigorous approach involving false positive and false negative analysis should be the standard by which an initial assessment of signature quality is made. They write, "Signatures must be reassessed as new sequence data becomes available. For targets with wide nucleotide diversity, such as influenza viruses, it is necessary to develop a set of signatures with a minimal set clustering approach that may also include signatures with degenerate/inosine bases".

Gardner comments, "The rapidly growing availability of sequence data for pathogens from across the globe means that we can better predict how robustly a signature will detect all the intended targets. Using a computational approach to design and pre-screen signatures can improve the quality of sequence-based diagnostics and save time and money in lab testing".

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Notes to Editors

1. Predicting the sensitivity and specificity of published real-time PCR assays
Gordon H Lemmon and Shea N Gardner
Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials (in press)

During embargo, article available here: http://www.ann-clinmicrob.com/imedia/4827024620702008_article.pdf?random=48363
After the embargo, article available at journal website: http://www.ann-clinmicrob.com/

Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.
Article citation and URL available on request at press@biomedcentral.com on the day of publication

2. Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials is an Open Access, peer-reviewed, online journal focusing on information concerning clinical microbiology, infectious diseases and antimicrobials. The management of infectious disease is dependent on correct diagnosis and appropriate antimicrobial treatment, and with this in mind, the journal aims to improve the communication between basic and clinical science in the field of clinical microbiology and antimicrobial treatment.

3. BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/) is an independent online publishing house committed to providing immediate access without charge to the peer-reviewed biological and medical research it publishes. This commitment is based on the view that open access to research is essential to the rapid and efficient communication of science.


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