RNA Testing Now Automated

From the viewpoint of the clinical laboratory, the consolidation of as many assays and types of assays as possible onto a single and existing automated analyzer (platform) is desirable. Such consolidation, which reduces the complexity and overall cost of a laboratory operation, is exemplified by the implementation of nonseparation (homogeneous) immunoassays such as enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique (EMIT),2 cloned enzyme donor immunoassay (CEDIA), and luminescent oxygen channeling immunoassay (LOCI) onto routine automated clinical chemistry analyzers (1). For relatively complex nucleic acid assays, automation of all or part of the assay has also been accomplished on dedicated analyzers but with relatively limited menus (2). Now there is the prospect of implementing nucleic acid assays on a routine immunoassay analyzer.An article in this issue of Clinical Chemistry addresses the problem of the compatibility of nucleic acid testing with high-throughput clinical laboratory workflows and describes the adaptation of nonamplification microRNA (miRNA) assays to a standard commercial immunoassay analyzer (3). miRNAs are small, noncoding RNAs, 19–25 nucleotides in length, that function as posttranscriptional regulators of up to half of all protein-encoding genes. Their utility as biomarkers derives from their important regulatory roles in most cellular and developmental processes, and from their remarkable stability, even in body fluids such as …