Following development in the military setting, the bacteria-specific rapid metabolic assay could take a step closer to a new era in bacterial detection. Here, Andrew Kemp provides an overview of progress.
Culture media and techniques have remained almost unchanged in over 100 years and in 2018 the question has to be asked: Is it fit for the purposes we are using it for? The increasing availability of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods and next-generation sequencing (NGS) to identify species has increased the speed at which a result is available, but it is still difficult to be accurate about numbers from all species.
There are tests available that quantify the total amount of adenosine triphosphate (ATP); however, there has yet to be found a correlation between total ATP and bacterial ATP, and therefore this type of test is considered to be of no clinical value.1,2
The bacteria-specific rapid metabolic assay (BSRMA) was developed as a battlefield test for biological weapons, and only recently adapted for use outside the military environment. Results using this newly available test on surfaces, skin and in urine have been incredibly revealing.1,3–6
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