The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) was founded 'to provide structure and leadership to the emerging field of molecular diagnostics', and publishes the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics.

The science of metrology is tightly coupled with biological science, in tandem with biology becoming less descriptive and more quantitative over the past half-century. The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the US Department of Commerce, has been established to ‘promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life’.

The annual meeting of the Association for Molecular Pathology will be held this year in Austin Texas from November 4-7, 2015. Laboratory Directors, Medical Directors and Pathologists worldwide will be hearing about the latest in clinical laboratory practices as well as the latest translational research being applied in the clinical setting.

In this video interview Dr. Greg Tsongalis addresses sources of pre-analytic variability when processing formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples in a pathology laboratory setting. By 'pre-analytic', he refers to the kinds of kits used for DNA extraction, and other factors that may have a significant impact on the quality of the results. He also discusses his work on clinical assay development for somatic mutation detection using NGS technology.

There are many challenges for pediatric patients struggling with recurrent or refractory cancer but a recent report and accompanying editorial published in the Journal of American Medical Association brings new hope for patients and their families.1 2This three year study also demonstrates how the principles of precision medicine can be successfully applied with existing DNA and RNA sequencing technologies for many patients.

Dr. Condie Carmack has over 30 years of experience in the life sciences and diagnostic industries, having been prior to GenomOncology the Director of Oncology Programs at Vela Diagnostics, developing an NGS-based system for worldwide regulatory approval, and prior to that helped found (as General Manager) the Cancer Genetics Laboratory at Baylor College of Medicine with Dr. Marilyn Li.

In 2011, the National Academy of Science published the results of a year-long committee effort called ‘Toward Precision Medicine: Building a Knowledge Network for Biomedical Research and a New Taxonomy of Disease’. This committee was charged to explore the feasibility and need to develop a new taxonomy of human disease based upon molecular biology, with the concept that with an explosion of molecular data about individuals with disease, there was a great untapped opportunity to use these data to improve health. FLICKR, JOHN GOODE

In this video interview, SeraCare’s Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Russell Garlick shares some background about SeraCare’s history of manufacturing controls and reference materials for infectious disease diagnostics, and how advances in Precision Medicine reveal a need for similar materials for the fields of oncology and maternal health.

You are a translational research scientist, clinical pathologist, or laboratory test developer, always on the lookout for new tools, best practices, the latest news, and quality information. Your daily work impacts people’s heath, which is why you entered the field in the first place, and you have seen tremendous change in the past few years with breakthrough genomic technology increasingly blurring the lines between research and ‘the clinic’.