Instructional Leadership, emphasis: K-12 School Leadership (MEd)
Molecular structure and liquids used in research labs

Compositions and Methods Used in Identifying Fungus


Description

The invention encompasses methods of using quantitative PCR to detect fungal organisms in clinical and environmental samples such as soil, air, water, and foodstuffs. Specifically, the invention incorporates primer sets that amplify a region of the 18s rRNA gene of fungi to provide pan-fungal, real-time quantitative PCR detection and quantification.

Additional information

Patent number and inventor

8,722,335 and 9,434,986

Cindy Liu, Sergey Kachur, Lance Price, and Paul Keim.

Potential applications

Clinical applications to detect and quantify fungus.

Benefits and advantages

The aim of the invention is to improve the diagnosis of fungal infections. With current techniques, fungal infections are difficult to diagnose. Because fungi are difficult to culture, the infections are underdiagnosed and under-treated. This assay provides a tool that allows sample analysis without prior knowledge of the fungi’s presence.

Case number and licensing status

2010-009

This invention is available for licensing.