As molecular diagnostics have become increasingly central to infectious disease testing, the requirements placed on the pre-analytical phase have changed significantly.
For microbiology and virology laboratories, specimen collection and transport are no longer simply about maintaining viable organisms until they reach the laboratory. Increasingly, the focus is on preserving nucleic-acid integrity while also supporting safe, efficient and reproducible molecular workflows.
This shift raises an important question: are conventional transport media still optimised for the requirements of today’s molecular diagnostic laboratory?
Copan’s new Universal Biomolecular Medium (UBM) has been developed in response to this changing landscape. Designed specifically for molecular testing, UBM is intended to support the transport and preservation of DNA and RNA from viruses, bacteria and fungi while also providing microbial inactivation.
For laboratories handling potentially infectious respiratory specimens, the combination of nucleic-acid preservation and inactivation presents an important opportunity. UBM is formulated without toxic chemicals or guanidine salts, with the aim of reducing chemical hazards associated with specimen handling while maintaining the molecular material required for downstream testing.
According to Copan, UBM has been validated for the inactivation of viruses, bacteria, fungi and yeasts, while maintaining nucleic-acid stability for up to 28 days across a range of temperatures from 2°C to 37°C. The medium is also designed to integrate into modern molecular workflows, including automated sample processing and compatible nucleic-acid amplification technologies.
This reflects a broader evolution in diagnostic pre-analytics. Traditional viral transport media were developed around the preservation of viable pathogens, supporting applications such as culture alongside other diagnostic methods. Molecular testing changes the equation: the organism itself does not necessarily need to remain viable when the diagnostic target is its DNA or RNA.
At the same time, laboratory safety has become an increasingly important consideration. The experience of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic highlighted the challenges associated with handling infectious respiratory specimens and accelerated interest in approaches that can reduce the risks associated with specimen transport and processing.
The challenge for laboratories is therefore to balance several requirements: obtaining an appropriate specimen, maintaining nucleic-acid integrity, reducing biological risk and ensuring compatibility with the analytical platforms used downstream.
It is this intersection of pre-analytics, biosafety and molecular diagnostics that will be explored in an upcoming webinar hosted jointly by Sterilab Services and Copan Italia.
Titled ‘UBM: A revolution in molecular sample collection’ the 60-minute session will examine the scientific rationale behind UBM, its inactivation properties and its application within respiratory diagnostic workflows. Speakers will include Anna Franzoni, Senior Scientific Affairs Specialist at Copan Italia; Valeria Uberti Foppa, Senior Business Development Manager at Copan Italia; and Pierre Frizelle, Client Relations Manager at Sterilab Services.
The webinar will be of particular interest to microbiologists, virologists, laboratory managers and other professionals involved in infectious disease diagnostics who are considering how pre-analytical processes can evolve alongside molecular testing.
The webinar takes place on Wednesday 14 October at 12:00pm UK time.
To explore the science behind UBM and its potential role in modern molecular workflows, register for the webinar via Sterilab Services Webex registration page or visit the UBM section of the Copan or Sterilab websites for further information.