That's kind of what I was thinking that this test was marketed sometime back. I'm vaquely remembering that this company was associated with one of the "negative" xmrv studies and had pulled the test.
Real-Time PCR—also called quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)—is one of the most powerful and sensitive gene analysis techniques available and is used for a broad range of applications including quantitative gene expression analysis, genotyping, SNP analysis, pathogen detection, drug target validation and for measuring RNA interference. Frequently, real-time polymerase chain reaction is combined with reverse transcription to quantify messenger RNA (mRNA) and MicroRNA (miRNA) in cells or tissues.
As the name suggests, real-time PCR measures PCR amplification as it occurs. This completely revolutionizes the way one approaches PCR-based quantitation of DNA and RNA. In traditional PCR, results are collected after the reaction is complete, making it impossible to determine the starting concentration of nucleic acid.
Real Time PCR vs Traditional PCR vs Digital PCR at a Glance
Digital PCR
Real-Time PCR
Traditional PCR
OverviewMeasures the fraction of negative replicates to determine absolute copy number.Measures PCR amplification as it occurs.Measures the amount of accumulated PCR product at the end of the PCR cycles.Quantitative?Yes, the fraction of negative PCR reactions is fit to a Poisson statistical algorithm .Yes, because data is collected during the exponential growth (log) phase of PCR when the quantity of the PCR product is directly proportional to the amount of template nucleic acid.No, though comparing the intensity of the amplified band on a gel to standards of a known concentration can give you 'semi-quantitative' results.Applications
Absolute Quantification of Viral Load
Absolute Quantification of Nucleic Acid Standards
Absolute Quantification of Next-Gen Sequencing Libraries
Rare Allele Detection
Low-Fold Copy Number Discrimination
Enrichment and Separation of Mixtures
Quantitation of Gene Expression
Microarray Verification
Quality Control and Assay Validation
Pathogen detection
SNP Genotyping
Copy Number Variation
MicroRNA Analysis
Viral Quantitation
siRNA/RNAi experiments
Amplification of DNA for:
Sequencing
Genotyping
Cloning
SummaryAdvantages of Digital PCR:
No need to rely on references or standards Desired precision can be achieved by increasing total number of PCR replicates
Highly tolerant to inhibitors
Capable of analyzing complex mixtures
Unlike traditional qPCR, digital PCR provides a linear response to the number of copies present to allow for small fold change differences to be detected
Adavantages of Real-Time PCR
Increased dynamic range of detection
No post-PCR processing
Detection is capable down to a 2-fold change
Collects data in the exponential growth phase of PCR
An increase in reporter fluorescent signal is directly proportional to the number of amplicons generated
The cleaved probe provides a permanent record amplification of an amplicon
Disadvantages of Traditional PCR
Poor Precision
Low sensitivity
Short dynamic range < 2 logs
Low resolution
Non-Automated
Size-based discrimination only
Results are not expressed as numbers
Ethidium bromide for staining is not very quantitative
This seems to be a different lab. I've seen this lab previously and think it's been in relation to Lyme/co-infections testing. Co-operative Diagnostics was the lab that was offering XMRV testing last year and pulled it's test after their negative findings.