LymeSeq: An Advanced Diagnostic Assay Approach to Lyme Disease
Description
The technology is an assay that detects and characterizes one or more Borrelia species causing Lyme disease or tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF). The method involves subjecting the subject DNA and/or RNA from the sample to a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) amplification reaction using primer pairs targeting at least one region specific to the Borrelia genus, Borrelia burgdorferi, and non-Lyme Borrelia species. In addition, the PCR-amplified products are analyzed to detect one or more Borrelia species. Several methods of this assay have been developed, including amplicon-based sequencing, universal indexing sequencing, and systems of preparing samples for one or more downstream processes that can be used for assessing one or more markers.
Additional information
Patent number and inventor
16/076,608
Elizabeth Driebe, Paul Keim, David Engelthaler, Jolene Bowers, and Nate Nieto.
Potential applications
Clinical applications to detect Lyme disease.
Benefits and advantages
The assay addresses the challenges of co-infection that may confound test results, unspecific testing causing false positives on Lyme disease diagnostic tests, and the limited sensitivity available with other methods of detection.
Case number and licensing status
2016-031
This invention is available for licensing.