Abstract
Frank Wegerhoff clearly reported the need for properly collecting and transporting specimens. for culturing bacteria (Microbe, April 2006, p. 180). When simple and inexpensive DNA tests specific for an infectious agent are developed, then at least the transportation problem can be lessened. For example, the DNA of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in clinical specimens collected on an ordinary swab with no preservative can be used for diagnosis by a transformation test, even after the swab is sent a long distance in an envelope by regular mail (J. Infect. Dis. 146: 275, 1982; Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Pub. Health 14:191, 1983). Similarly, gonoccocal DNA can be detected in the urine of patients when the urine is sent by ordinary mail. However, the urine must be treated with protein-denaturing agents at the time of collecting the sample. The urine methodology is not limited to that of gonococcal DNA, since it has been used to detect the DNA of two other bacteria. When methods are developed to extract NDA from stool specimens, tissues and body fluids in quantity and purity adequate for routine DNA tests, viability of microbes will not be necessary for the diagnosis of infectious disease.
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