RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Use of Diagnostic Metagenomics in the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory
JF American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
JO Clin Lab Sci
FD American Society of Chemistry and Laboratory Science
SP 78
OP 84
DO 10.29074/ascls.2019001768
VO 32
IS 2
A1 Mitchell, Stephanie L
YR 2019
UL http://hwmaint.clsjournal.ascls.org/content/32/2/78.abstract
AB Next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based assays have recently entered the realm of the clinical microbiology laboratory’s capacity, providing exciting potential for improvement in infectious disease detection and identification. There are many diagnostic applications of NGS, such as targeted or amplicon NGS and metagenomic NGS (mNGS). mNGS has received the most attention for diagnostics because of its unbiased nature and “hypothesis-free” testing approach. Although mNGS may have improved pathogen detection compared with conventional culture-based testing and has shown clinical utility in some specific cases, the application of this technology is still investigational, and many barriers and limitations remain to be overcome. This review will cover both the advantages and limitations of mNGS and address the need for and incorporation of new technologist skillsets in the clinical microbiology laboratory to successfully implement mNGS diagnostics.