title: Recent patents and technology transfer for molecular diagnosis of β-thalassemia and other hemoglobinopathies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Biological tests and genetic analyses for diagnosis and characterization of hematological diseases in health laboratories are designed with the aim of meeting the major medical needs of hospitals and pharmaceutical companies involved in this field of applied biomedicine. Genetic testing approaches to perform diagnosis consist of molecular techniques, which should be absolutely reproducible, fast, sensitive, cheap, and portable.
  
  
  METHODS
  Biological tests analyzed involve adult/newborn subjects, whereas genetic analyses involve adult thalassemia patients, newborns, embryos/fetuses (including non-invasive prenatal diagnosis), pre-implantation embryos, and pre-fertilization oocytes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The most recent findings in the diagnostic approach for β-thalassemias are related to three major fields of investigation: moving towards ultrasensitive methodologies for effective detection of the primary causative mutation of β-thalassemia, including the development of polymerase chain reaction-free approaches and non-invasive prenatal diagnosis; comparing analyses of the genotype of β-thalassemia patients to high-HbF-associated polymorphisms; introducing whole genome association assays and next-generation sequencing. All these issues should be considered and discussed in the context of several aspects, including regulatory, ethical and social issues. DNA sequence data aligned with the identification of genes central to the induction, development, progression, and outcome of β-thalassemia will be a key point for directing personalized therapy.
authors.affiliation: a 1 University of Ferrara, Section of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology , Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Breveglieri
authors.affiliation: a 1 University of Ferrara, Section of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology , Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Finotti
authors.affiliation: a 1 University of Ferrara, Section of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology , Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borgatti
authors.affiliation: b 2 University of Ferrara, Section of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology , Via Fossato di Mortara 74, 44121 Ferrara, Italy +39 05 32 97 44 43 ; +39 05 32 97 45 00 ; gam@unife.it.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gambari
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005820:Genetic Testing / Q000379:methods; D006453:Hemoglobinopathies / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D010330:Patents as Topic; D011247:Pregnancy; D019836:Preimplantation Diagnosis / Q000379:methods; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D018581:Technology Transfer; D017086:beta-Thalassemia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics
keywords: molecular diagnosis; technology transfer; thalassemia