Isothermal amplification techniques, such as NASBA, utilize a single temperature for nucleic acid amplification thereby eliminating the need for thermal cycling instruments to precisely and quickly alter the reaction temperature. This often reduces the cost associated with molecular testing and infrastructure requirements. In what settings could this be advantageous?

Question

a. Developing countries with limited health care facilities
b. Field clinics during military operations
c. Small clinics or hospitals without centra-lized laboratory facilities
d. Urgent care clinics or pharmacies for point-of-care diagnosis
e. All of the above

Answer 1

E
Isothermal techniques are well suited for any location or setting where resources (technical per-sonnel, expensive instrumentation, electrical power, etc.) are limited or when diagnosis is needed at the point-of-care.