Technology To Improve the Robustness of Diagnostic Assays

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Minimally invasive diagnostic analyses that do not require tissue sampling is a desirable approach for detectionof wide range of diseases, including invasive pathogens. RNA-based biomarkers from these pathogens arereleased to the bloodstream and become part of the cell free RNA pool in blood, making them promising fordisease detection. These biomarkers, however, usually exist in small amounts and are exceptionally fragile. Insituations where the storage conditions of the blood sample fall outside optimal handling conditions, the qualityof the samples is compromised, thereby decreasing the sensitivity and accuracy of biomarker analysis. We areproposing a novel system that entails nucleic acid binding polymers to stabilize RNA markers present in bloodto prevent their degradation under non-optimal temperature and processing (time) conditions. It is envisionedthat the blood samples treated with the stabilizing agents and subsequent analysis can be carried out withoutsample degradation. Upon successful completion of this project, our industrial partner Aquila DiagnosticSystems Inc. is expected to launch of the new blood collection system that will result in a new source ofrevenue and increase the job creation in Canada.