title: Applications of Digital PCR for Clinical Microbiology.
abstract: Digital PCR (dPCR) is an important new tool for use in the clinical microbiology laboratory. Its advantages over quantitative PCR (qPCR), including absolute quantification without a standard curve, improved precision, improved accuracy in the presence of inhibitors, and more accurate quantitation when amplification efficiency is low, make dPCR the assay of choice for several specimen testing applications. This minireview will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of dPCR compared to qPCR, its applications in clinical microbiology, and considerations for implementation of the method in a clinical laboratory.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA; Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Department, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA kuypers@uw.edu.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kuypers
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA; Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Department, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Keith R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Jerome
mesh_terms: D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*
keywords: applications; digital PCR; quantitative PCR