qPCR: In-Depth Focus 2014

• Prime time for qPCR – raising the quality bar
  Mikael Kubista, TATAA Biocenter, Sweden
  Quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction, better known as qPCR, is the most sensitive and specific technique we have for the detection of nucleic acids. Even though it has been around for more than 30 years and is preferred in research applications, it has still to win broad acceptance in routine. Main hurdles are the lack of guidelines, standards, quality controls, and even proper methods to evaluate the diagnostic results. This is now rapidly changing.
• PCR to diagnose infectious disease
  Theo P. Sloots and Michael D. Nissen, Queensland Children’s Medical Research Institute, Australia
  Effective clinical management and treatment of patients with infectious disease relies on the rapid and accurate identification of the causative agent. Yet, until recently, diagnosticians used relatively insensitive methods to detect the infectious agent in clinical specimens, namely microscopy, histology, isolation and culture of pathogens and by measuring the serologic response of the host.
• qPCR Roundtable
  Moderated by Prof. Dr. Michael W. Pfaffl, Department of Physiology, Life Science Centre Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich