Malaria Diagnostics
University of Washington Malaria Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory (MMDL) - link to MMDL website
To assess the efficacy of malaria vaccines and drugs, highly sensitive and quantitative tests are needed to find parasites even when infected participants have little to no obvious symptoms. During the past eight years, our laboratory developed such tests by targeting the small subunit or '18S' ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) of Plasmodium parasites. The 18S rRNA is a commonly targeted nucleic acid sequence but most groups test for the parasite's genomic DNA encoding the 18S rRNA. However, our lab determined that there are ~5,000-10,000 copies of the 18S rRNA produced in each and every infected cell and we therefore perform Reverse Transcription PCR (RT-PCR) for these targets. Because the 18S rRNA is so highly expressed, our approach can detect a single parasite in the 50 microliter sample test volume.
The MMDL is located in the Research and Training Building in Department of Laboratory Medicine facilities at Harborview Medical Center. MMDL accepts whole blood or dried blood spots (DBS) from IRB-approved clinical trials of drug and vaccine candidates and from epidemiological surveillance studies. One version of the test is available for clinical patient care use - contact the MMDL for such information.
Connect to the MMDL website.
Sample collection and handling protocols are available by contacting the Laboratory.
If you are sending samples to our Laboratory, please contact us to discuss details. Proper shipping practices are required for dry ice and biological hazard shipments.
Our shipping address for diagnostic specimens is:
Dr. Sean Murphy
c/o Mariko Seilie
750 Republican St.
Seattle, WA 98109, USA
Telephone: 206-685-8212
Website: https://sites.google.com/uw.edu/mmdl/home
To assess the efficacy of malaria vaccines and drugs, highly sensitive and quantitative tests are needed to find parasites even when infected participants have little to no obvious symptoms. During the past eight years, our laboratory developed such tests by targeting the small subunit or '18S' ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) of Plasmodium parasites. The 18S rRNA is a commonly targeted nucleic acid sequence but most groups test for the parasite's genomic DNA encoding the 18S rRNA. However, our lab determined that there are ~5,000-10,000 copies of the 18S rRNA produced in each and every infected cell and we therefore perform Reverse Transcription PCR (RT-PCR) for these targets. Because the 18S rRNA is so highly expressed, our approach can detect a single parasite in the 50 microliter sample test volume.
The MMDL is located in the Research and Training Building in Department of Laboratory Medicine facilities at Harborview Medical Center. MMDL accepts whole blood or dried blood spots (DBS) from IRB-approved clinical trials of drug and vaccine candidates and from epidemiological surveillance studies. One version of the test is available for clinical patient care use - contact the MMDL for such information.
Connect to the MMDL website.
Sample collection and handling protocols are available by contacting the Laboratory.
If you are sending samples to our Laboratory, please contact us to discuss details. Proper shipping practices are required for dry ice and biological hazard shipments.
Our shipping address for diagnostic specimens is:
Dr. Sean Murphy
c/o Mariko Seilie
750 Republican St.
Seattle, WA 98109, USA
Telephone: 206-685-8212
Website: https://sites.google.com/uw.edu/mmdl/home
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