New Assay Developed for HCV Genotyping

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New assay for HIV-1 and hepatitis C virus genotyping developed

WESTPORT, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Researchers at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York have developed a new genotyping technique called the combinatorial DNA melting assay, or COMA. Dr. David Ho and colleagues believe that this new assay will "...accelerate current efforts to understand the global molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 and [hepatitis C virus] HCV."

"The genetic classification of HIV-1 and HCV strains has important implications for the development of globally effective vaccines and for the management of patients," according to Dr. Ho and others. In the July issue of Molecular Medicine, they write that COMA determines genetic subtypes of HIV-1 by analyzing sequences encoding the env region and determines genetic subtypes of HCV by analyzing the sequences encoding the C and E1 regions.

Dr. Ho's group says that "[t]he development of COMA draws from the experience of numerous investigators over many years in the area of DNA melting kinetics, particularly with regard to work on denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis." A major advantage of COMA compared with genotyping techniques that use analytical gel electrophoresis is that COMA can "...compare each unknown HIV-1 and HCV strain with multiple reference strains simultaneously."

Mol Med 1998;4:443-453.


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