What differentiates diagnostic techniques that employ phenotypic (culture-based) methods from those that employ molecular methods?
a. Phenotypic methods are highly sensitive and specific, while molecular methods are not.
b. Phenotypic methods examine the growth behavior of a microorganism and the pro-teins, enzymes, or toxins produced, while molecular methods examine the genetic makeup.
c. Phenotypic methods are quantitative while molecular methods are not.
d. Phenotypic methods are not limited to de-tection of live organisms as are molecular methods.
Isothermal amplification techniques, such as NASBA, utilize a single temperature for nucleic acid amplification thereby eliminating the need for thermal cycling instruments to precisely and quickly alter the reaction temperature. This often reduces the cost associated with molecular testing and infrastructure requirements. In what settings could this be advantageous?
a. Developing countries with limited health care facilities
b. Field clinics during military operations
c. Small clinics or hospitals without centra-lized laboratory facilities
d. Urgent care clinics or pharmacies for point-of-care diagnosis
e. All of the above
What key advantage do emerging technologies, such as MALDI-TOF and next generation sequencing, have over conventional hybridization and amplification techniques?
a. They do not require selection of suspected pathogens prior to testing.
b. They do not require expensive instrumen-tation or skilled technicians.
c. They eliminate sample preparation steps, such as nucleic acid purification, prior to testing.
d. They are readily available in most clinical laboratories.
e. All of the above.
Which of the following molecular techniques, or combination of techniques, would be most appropriate for detection and quantitation of an RNA retrovirus, like HIV, in a blood sample in order to establish the patient's viral load?
a. RT-PCR
b. Real-time PCR
c. Real-time RT-PCR
d. Multiplex PCR
Gel electrophoresis is used to separate nucleic acid amplicons based upon what physical property?
a. Sequence
b. Duplex formation
c. Size
d. Secondary folding structure
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