Techniques in Molecular Diagnostics

Contents: 1. Introduction to molecular diagnostics/Partha Pratim Sarma. 2. General calculation for making solutions in molecular diagnostic laboratory/Pranjal Kr. Baruah. 3. Basic requirements for setting-up a molecular diagnostic laboratory/Kandarpa Kr. Saikia. 4. Nucleic acid extraction protocols/Partha Pratim Sarma and Kandarpa Kr. Saikia. 5. Protocol to perform Agarose Gel Electrophoresis/Sukanta Nath and Partha Pratim Sarma. 6. Protocol for qualitative PCR using genomic DNA or cDNA as template/Kandarpa Kr. Saikia and Sukanta Nath. 7. DNA sequence analysis/Kandarpa Kr. Saikia and Vedant Vikrom Borah. 8. Protocol for synthesis of cDNA from total RNA/Sukanta Nath and Partha Pratim Sarma. 9. Protocol to perform RT-PCR (Reverse Transcriptase PCR for Gene Expression Studies)/Kandarpa Kr. Saikia. 10. Protocol to perform quantitative real time PCR (qPCR)/Partha Pratim Sarma and Sukanta Nath. 11. Protocol to perform FISH/Manoj Kr. Panigrahi. 12. Examples of biomarker detection protocols using molecular diagnostic tools -acute myeloid Leukaemia, Glioma and Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia molecular markers/Kandarpa Kr. Saikia, Partha Pratim Sarma, Sukanta Nath and Dushyant Kumar. 13. Quality assurance and quality control in molecular diagnostics/Rupjyoti Kalita and Kandarpa Kr. Saikia.

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.