title: Feasibility of using microbeads with holographic barcodes to track DNA specimens in the clinical molecular laboratory.
abstract: We demonstrate the feasibility of using glass microbeads with a holographic barcode identifier to track DNA specimens in the molecular pathology laboratory. These beads can be added to peripheral blood specimens and are carried through automated DNA extraction protocols that use magnetic glass particles. We found that an adequate number of microbeads are consistently carried over during genomic DNA extraction to allow specimen identification, that the beads do not interfere with the performance of several different molecular assays, and that the beads and genomic DNA remain stable when stored together under regular storage conditions in the molecular pathology laboratory. The beads function as an internal, easily readable specimen barcode. This approach may be useful for identifying DNA specimens and reducing errors associated with molecular laboratory testing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine , Stanford, CA , USA.
authors.forename: Jason D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Merker
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: O'Grady
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gojenola
authors.forename: Mai
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dao
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lenta
authors.forename: Joanne M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Yeakley
authors.forename: Iris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schrijver
keywords: DNA extraction; Holographic barcode; Microbeads; Molecular pathology; Quality; Quality assessment program; Specimen identification