One of the challenges in R&D is to find robust technologies to develop diagnostic tests. Notably, it could be within a context of asymptomatic infections for which reliable detection of positive specimens is crucial.

Jordi Landiera et al. have just published an article in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology (doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00565-18) using a combination of PCR and immunoassays to reveal the benefit of an HRP2-based ultrasensitive rapid diagnostic test that was developed to improve the detection of Plasmodium falciparum low density infections.

In a recently published study, researchers sought to elucidate if 2 treatments modulated immune response or not, despite the available evidence being conflicting. The method that made the difference and allowed them to reach their conclusions, is based on 16 human cytokines using multiplex immunoassays with the Quansys technology.

Inflammation is involved in many fields including cosmetology, drug discovery (including RNA-based vaccines), and diagnostic index development, as well as being linked to almost every disease such as HIV, cancers, or neurodegenerative diseases. For this reason, analysis of the inflammasome is a major concern. Immunoassays are a classic and affordable method to quantify the corresponding proteins secreted by cells during inflammation. Nevertheless,  there are well-known drawbacks and limitations raising key questions about the sensitivity, reproducibility and even the universality of the results. We can’t all use mass spectrometry, but fortunately, ELISA tests and multiplexing have evolved. Let’s discover how much.

As with this painted representation of (surrealist!) DNA, to a certain extent, molecular cloning is an art.

Unfortunately for newcomers, or fortunately for experts, it’s required for many downstream applications including protein production and cell engineering to develop cell-based assays. ORF expression is also a major tool for understanding a protein function via overexpression study.

In short, to develop the potential of cell biology research, it’s often a question of adopting a “smart molecular biology” approach. Along the way though, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to avoid using cloning vectors and other related molecular cloning tools.

However… luckily, fast and simple cloning is possible! Mainly thanks to the smart kits and systems that I’ll explain more about in this post. And for your complete peace of mind, there are also ORF expression clones…