This is a new book that covers the fundamentals, methodologies, and clinical applications of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). According to the editor, the purpose is to present the basic principles, general methodologies, and some specific clinical applications regarding the use of the polymerase chain reaction. Although a number of texts have been published that deal with the use of PCR, few, if any, have gone to the trouble to present the basic principles and needs of the clinical laboratory in order to use PCR. The goal here is to bring together not just a group of diverse procedures, but to create a text that will help in setting up PCR in a clinical laboratory. This is a worthy objective that is well met by the editor and contributors. It is meant to help "clinical scientists across the many specialties that increasingly require the application of PCR." It is geared toward someone who has a great deal of familiarity and experience in the field of molecular biology as well as the clinical laboratory. The editor has brought together a large number of authorities from around the globe who appear to be using PCR routinely and who are comfortable writing on this subject. The editor does an excellent job presenting PCR at the beginning of the book. Theory, practicalities, and limitations of PCR are well covered in the introduction. The section on general methodologies gives the reader a good overview of the many uses of PCR. The clinical applications section has a good selection of procedures used in the clinical laboratory that illustrate the widespread use of this amplification technique. The book contains pertinent illustrations, but could have used more pictures of gels ordata illustrating results from the clinical procedures in some chapters. The references are current and pertinent. The table of contents is laid out well and the index is good. Readers will find the step-by-step protocols of value. This book contains a great deal of good information for the experienced molecular biologist and should achieve its goal of helping clinical scientists bring PCR into the clinical laboratory. It is well written by a diverse group of experienced authorities from around the world who help explain the use of PCR. Basic researchers as well as clinical laboratorians will find this book a welcome addition to the other molecular biology guides and manuals available, as it contains a comprehensive view of PCR. This is one of the first texts to carefully document all the needs required by laboratorians who hope to perform PCR. In choosing to lay out this text in three separate sections that cover fundamentals, methodologies, and applications of PCR, the editor has created a unique document that will be welcome in the clinical laboratory as well as the research field.
A collection of core PCR techniques useful for the study and diagnosis of human diseases, focusing on techniques that use nonisotopic, solution phase, and amplification methods. Part I overviews the polymerase chain reaction and explains how to set up a PCR laboratory. Part II details methods for 11 procedures, with notes on materials and step-by-step instructions. Part III describes applications exploiting PCR in the detection of rare or single cells, as in identifying fetal cells in maternal blood, preimplantation embryo diagnosis, and detecting circulating cancer cells. For medical researchers, microbiologists, clinical pathologists, hematologists, and virologists. Plastic comb binding. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
Reviewer: Valerie L Ng, PhD MD(Alameda County Medical Center/Highland Hospital)
Description: This is the second edition of a book that discusses applications of PCR-based (polymerase chain reaction) clinical testing. It is neither stated nor obvious when the first edition was published, but the introduction states that recent and rapid technological advances in PCR-based clinical testing mandated this updated edition.
Purpose: The purpose is to present new clinical applications of and protocols for PCR-based testing. These are worthy objectives, given the increasing presence of molecular testing in clinical laboratories. The book met the author's objectives.
Audience: This would appeal to anyone involved in PCR-based clinical testing for the applications presented in this book, i.e., research lab workers, molecular clinical laboratory staff (clinical laboratory scientists — CLSs, supervisors, managers, directors). It would also be of interest to CLS students who want to work in clinical molecular laboratories. It is written for actual practitioners in molecular clinical laboratories.
Features: This book has one introductory chapter and 15 chapters devoted to either specific clinical states to which PCR-based testing can be applied or PCR product analyses. If you are interested in these 15 limited areas (DNA methylation, in-cell PCR, fetal aneuploidies, fetal DNA in maternal plasma, Epstein-Barr DNA quantification, SARS, P. falciparum detection, etc.), you would like this book. Each chapter starts with a summary, followed by a concise introduction to the subject, stepwise protocols for how to perform the assay, tips on assay issues, and ends with a relevant and current bibliography. Everything you need to set up the specific "home brew" assay in your laboratory is self contained in each chapter. You could pick up this book and run the assay tomorrow. If, however, you are not interested in these 15 areas, then this is not the book for you. One shortcoming of this book (and likely because I'm reviewing it from a U.S. clinical laboratory perspective) is that aside from lab layout considerations, there is absolutely no discussion of the elements of a quality assurance program(s) for PCR-based tests (i.e., personnel training, external proficiency testing, quality control materials, etc.). Seems to me that testing of this highly technical nature should include a discussion of what a lab needs to do to assure the result is correct — especially since some of these tests will have direct clinical impact (i.e., fetal aneuploidy and pregnancy continuation considerations). Another dissynchrony is the title implying a broad comprehensive overview of all PCR-based clinical testing, when in fact only 15 of the many current applications are discussed. Noteworthy is the lack of discussion of PCR-based methodology for more mainstream clinical virology testing (HIV, HCV, etc.). So, the few topics included are covered very well, but this book is by no means comprehensive or inclusive of all PCR-based clinical laboratory testing of today.
Assessment: This is a niche book — it has great appeal for those interested in these specific areas of PCR-based clinical laboratory testing.
From the reviews:
"...will be an important laboratory resource to those using PCR in the diagnosis of human diseases and should be of great interest to both molecular and clinical pathologists." -Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
"Each chapter is clearly written and provides enough background material to explain the significance and application of the procedure. The prools include sufficient detail to enable the reader to develop the test. This manual will be an important laboratory resource to those using PCR in the diagnosis of human diseases and should be of great interest to both molecular and clinical pathologists."-Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
"...a unique document that will be welcome in the clinical laboratory as well as the research field." -Doody's Health Sciences Book Review Journal
"This book is pitched at both pathologists and microbiologists who use PCR in a diagnostic setting. It provides a user-friendly and relatively brief theoretical background to conventional and real-time PCR … . This book should appeal to professional laboratory scientists and students … as well as to more experienced individuals who want to use or extend specific applications. This book would be a useful purchase as a reference source and technical manual for diagnostic pathology and microbiology laboratories." (David Hampson, SGM- Society for General Microbiology, 2007)
