Identification of pathogens by nonculturing molecular techniques

This chapter will focus on the use of non-culture-based methods to identify prokaryotic human pathogens. The methods discussed rely primarily on nucleic acid detection and analysis for pathogens commonly encountered in diagnostic and clinical research settings. Diagnostic capabilities in clinical microbiology have exponentially grown due to the impact of molecular methods and tools, like (but not limited to) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing, for the detection of human pathogens. Increasingly, technologies such as mass spectrometry and next-generation sequencing that have been incorporated into routine research laboratory use for sometime will be implemented for routine use in a clinical setting along with PCR-based assays. In addition, the pace and continued development of molecular methods for clinical applications of pathogen detection may ultimately transform diagnostic microbiology into a culture less diagnostic science, in the future.