Team:Michigan/Current
Current Disease Detection Methods:
Technological advancements in serological and molecular laboratory techniques have reduced the time and effort required to test for high profile diseases such as malaria, and tuberculosis, as well as neglected tropical diseases such as trypanosomiasis (chagas disease), dengue fever, and cysticercosis.
Parasitic Diseases
Immunofluorescence Antibody Assay (IFA) and Indirect Fluorescent Antibody Test (IFAT):
These tests both rely on the use of fluorescently tagged antibodies binding to targets to report antigen presence. In immunofluorescence antibody assays, a specifically chosen primary fluorescently tagged antibody binds directly to an antigen of interest1 antibody tests, a specific primary antibody is bound to a target antigen while another fluorescently tagged secondary antibody binds to the primary antibody1 fluorescent signal would suggest the binding of antibodies to their specific antigens and a diagnosis for that disease could be made.
PCR:
Currently, PCR is one of the most sensitive of the existing methods of detecting microbial pathogens2 amplicons2to culture in vitro or require a long cultivation period2 to using PCR. For example, PCR is susceptible to inhibitors and contamination2 PCR is based on DNA amplification, meaning false-positive or false-negative outcomes can easily occur2 laboratory surfaces can also result in falsepositive outcomes2 disease detection must be performed in controlled environments and conditions. It involves DNA extraction from specimens, PCR amplification, and detection of This method of disease detection is particularly useful when pathogens are difficult However, there are also several downfalls Additionally,
. Experimental conditions, such as contamination of reagents, pipettes, and
. Thus, PCR as a method of method of
disease detection must be performed in controlled environments and conditions.