Genomics Tool Aims to Take Guesswork Out of Infectious Disease Diagnosis

A child comes into the emergency room in with fever, coughing, and chest pain. What’s causing her illness? A new type of test promises to take the guesswork out of making an accurate diagnosis and providing appropriate treatment. Robert Schlaberg, MD, an assistant professor of pathology at the University of Utah and medical director at ARUP laboratories, describes the tool, Taxonomer, which classifies the genomes of every microbe in a patient sample. He explains the significant advantages over current diagnostic methods, and new ways in which the tool may be used in the future.