Molecular Diagnostics
Comprehensive Resource To Help You Ace 2026-2027 Exams
Includes Frequently Tested Questions With ELABORATED
100% Correct COMPLETE SOLUTIONS
Guaranteed Pass First Attempt!! Current Update!!
1. Rapidly growing field which detects any given analyte based on its
molecular components
- Correct Answer: Molecular diagnostics
2. Pros of Molecular Testing
- Correct Answer: • Some organisms cannot be grown or are very difficult to
grow in culture
• Decreased turn around time (TAT)
• Increased sensitivity and specificity
• Ability to quantify results
3. Example of an organism that cannot be grown or is very difficult to grow in
culture
- Correct Answer: Chlamydia Trachomatis
4. Example of decreased turn around time (TAT)
- Correct Answer: Traditional viral culture for enterovirus can take 5 weeks to
grow, a RT-PCR can be done in a few hours
5. Example of increased sensitivity and specificity
- Correct Answer: Primers specifically target only the organism you want
, 6. Example of the ability to quantify results
- Correct Answer: Bacterial culture is hard to quantify and relies on describing
colony number (with possibly thousands of bacterium within a colony), molecular
testing can give you an exact concentration
7. Cons of Molecular Testing
- Correct Answer: • Expensive
• Specialized training
• Generally, need to know what to test for
• Contamination is a huge problem
• Contains target, represents a positive patient and proves the assay works
• can also be extraction or amplification controls
8. Positive control
- Correct Answer: • Does not contain target, represents a negative patient and
checks for contamination
• can also be extraction or amplification controls.
9. Negative control
- Correct Answer: • Added to each sample
• can be an extraction or amplification control depending on what stage of the
assay the control is added and serves to prove that the assay was effective
• typically a synthetic version of your target, with a unique sequence added to it,
which has its own separate primers/probes (so that the IC will not be confused
with a patient positive).
• should always be positive for negative samples.
10.Internal controls
- Correct Answer: • Water (or another negative source) pipetted in between
patients
, • This is to ensure your technique was good and you did not carryover any
contamination from a positive sample.
• should always be negative.
11.Contamination controls
- Correct Answer: • Added pre extraction.
• used to show that your extraction step worked
12.Extraction control
What does it mean if the positive extraction control fails?
- Correct Answer: It might indicate that the negative patients are not true
negatives, but possibly failed extractions.
• Added post extraction but pre amplification
• Used to show that the amplification step worked
13.Amplification control
What does it mean if the positive amplification control fails?
- Correct Answer: It may mean that your negative patients are not true
negatives, but possibly failed amplifications.
14.Which type of control should always be positive?
- Correct Answer: • Extraction controls
• Amplification controls
• Internal controls (positive for negative samples)
15.Which type of control should always be negative?
- Correct Answer: Contamination control/NTC (no template control)
16. Steps of molecular testing
- Correct Answer: 1) Sample collection (not done by the tech)
2) Extraction / Purification
Comprehensive Resource To Help You Ace 2026-2027 Exams
Includes Frequently Tested Questions With ELABORATED
100% Correct COMPLETE SOLUTIONS
Guaranteed Pass First Attempt!! Current Update!!
1. Rapidly growing field which detects any given analyte based on its
molecular components
- Correct Answer: Molecular diagnostics
2. Pros of Molecular Testing
- Correct Answer: • Some organisms cannot be grown or are very difficult to
grow in culture
• Decreased turn around time (TAT)
• Increased sensitivity and specificity
• Ability to quantify results
3. Example of an organism that cannot be grown or is very difficult to grow in
culture
- Correct Answer: Chlamydia Trachomatis
4. Example of decreased turn around time (TAT)
- Correct Answer: Traditional viral culture for enterovirus can take 5 weeks to
grow, a RT-PCR can be done in a few hours
5. Example of increased sensitivity and specificity
- Correct Answer: Primers specifically target only the organism you want
, 6. Example of the ability to quantify results
- Correct Answer: Bacterial culture is hard to quantify and relies on describing
colony number (with possibly thousands of bacterium within a colony), molecular
testing can give you an exact concentration
7. Cons of Molecular Testing
- Correct Answer: • Expensive
• Specialized training
• Generally, need to know what to test for
• Contamination is a huge problem
• Contains target, represents a positive patient and proves the assay works
• can also be extraction or amplification controls
8. Positive control
- Correct Answer: • Does not contain target, represents a negative patient and
checks for contamination
• can also be extraction or amplification controls.
9. Negative control
- Correct Answer: • Added to each sample
• can be an extraction or amplification control depending on what stage of the
assay the control is added and serves to prove that the assay was effective
• typically a synthetic version of your target, with a unique sequence added to it,
which has its own separate primers/probes (so that the IC will not be confused
with a patient positive).
• should always be positive for negative samples.
10.Internal controls
- Correct Answer: • Water (or another negative source) pipetted in between
patients
, • This is to ensure your technique was good and you did not carryover any
contamination from a positive sample.
• should always be negative.
11.Contamination controls
- Correct Answer: • Added pre extraction.
• used to show that your extraction step worked
12.Extraction control
What does it mean if the positive extraction control fails?
- Correct Answer: It might indicate that the negative patients are not true
negatives, but possibly failed extractions.
• Added post extraction but pre amplification
• Used to show that the amplification step worked
13.Amplification control
What does it mean if the positive amplification control fails?
- Correct Answer: It may mean that your negative patients are not true
negatives, but possibly failed amplifications.
14.Which type of control should always be positive?
- Correct Answer: • Extraction controls
• Amplification controls
• Internal controls (positive for negative samples)
15.Which type of control should always be negative?
- Correct Answer: Contamination control/NTC (no template control)
16. Steps of molecular testing
- Correct Answer: 1) Sample collection (not done by the tech)
2) Extraction / Purification
