MicroGen DX

Some infections aren't rare. The bacteria behind them are just too picky for a standard petri dish.

Fastidious microbes are real and capable of causing infection, but they only grow with very specific nutrients they can't make themselves. Without those exact conditions like chocolate agar, made by heating blood agar to release trapped nutrients — the plate looks empty, but the microbe is still there.

Standard culture assumes common nutrients, common air, and a few days' time. Fastidious microbes, including Haemophilus, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Campylobacter, Helicobacter, and Mycoplasma/Ureaplasma, break all three assumptions. A negative result can mean "wrong conditions," not "no infection."

Molecular testing doesn't need a microbe to grow. It identifies over 60,000 microbes with 99.2% accuracy by reading each one's DNA signature.

Get real answers: https://loom.ly/i6FwFxE

Your culture came back negative. Your patient still has endocarditis.

What valve tissue testing finds when culture does not:

• 90.9% vs 39.4%. Molecular detection against valve culture on the same 100 specimens (Berinson 2025, 95% CI 81.3 to 96.6)

• 645 patients, three countries. Johansson 2023 (n=279) and Rodriguez-Garcia 2021 (n=266) found the same gap in independent cohorts

• 71.4% vs 24.1%. The gap after ten or more days of preoperative antibiotics (Rodriguez-Garcia 2021, p = 0.005)

• 12 days. Accuracy was highest for valves resected within 12 days of blood culture negativization (Lazarevic 2025)

• Major Criterion for three organisms only. Bartonella species, Coxiella burnetii, Tropheryma whipplei. Minor Criterion pending further data for everything else (Fowler 2023)

• Blood culture stays first line. It returns phenotypic susceptibility that sequencing does not

At resection, collect one dedicated valve specimen for molecular testing. Do not split a single sample downstream.

About the laboratory:

• 99.2% accuracy, independently validated. CAP-accredited, CLIA-certified, CLEP-permitted (NYS DOH)

• 60,000+ organisms, up to 17 AMR gene targets, ~$400 per test

• Covered by traditional Medicare under PLA code 0112U (Infectious agent detection and identification, targeted sequence analysis (16S and 18S rRNA genes) with drug-resistance gene) and existing Local Coverage Determinations. In cases of insurance denial, patient responsibility is typically $249.

Some infections are caused by bacteria that die the moment air touches them. So how do they still make you sick?

Anaerobic bacteria grow without oxygen and can be destroyed by air exposure in as little as 10 minutes. They live naturally in the mouth, throat, intestine, and skin, but can cause serious infection in a wound, cut, or deep tissue.

Detecting them is a logistics problem. Samples must stay oxygen-free, use specialized media, and incubate for extended periods just to grow. It's harder still because anaerobes rarely act alone, and a culture that grows their aerobic partner can look like the whole story when it’s not.

The data backs this up. In a study of 30 chronic wound patients, researchers tried and failed to culture anaerobes every time, yet molecular testing found they made up 30% of the bacteria in diabetic foot ulcers and 62% in pressure ulcers. Across 80,000 of our own sinus and ear samples, we found anaerobes present in 45% of specimens, and dominant in 12%.

Left overlooked, anaerobic infections can lead to sepsis, organ failure, and even amputation. Accurately identifying the microbe is what unlocks effective treatment.

Molecular testing like NGS skips the oxygen-free handling and days of incubation, reading microbial DNA directly for more accurate answers.

Learn more about NGS: https://loom.ly/kqt3UuI

Sources: Dowd et al., BMC Microbiology, 2008; MicroGenDX qPCR+NGS clinical data, ~80,000 ENT samples

Speed can matter just as much as your answers. With results in as little as 24 hours after your sample reaches the lab, you don't have to wait to start the conversation with your provider. Wendy's results came through quickly so she could take them to her provider, so she had no delay in receiving care.

Get real answers: https://loom.ly/i84-ARI

We're in Porto this week. Come find the team.

11 MicroGenDX abstracts and posters accepted at the Joint EBJIS-MSIS 2026 Conference, 17-19 September: 2 orals, 4 posters, 5 e-posters. Booth 2, Alfandega Congress Centre. Our CEO is here with the team.

The one to look for: four diagnostic modalities - culture, NGS, multiplex PCR and antigen immunoassay - head to head on the same synovial fluid samples. Same samples, same patients, which is the whole point.

Tomorrow, 11:00: Ed McPherson (UCLA Health) on whether a native joint microbiome exists at all.

Findings are presented at the meeting, not reported ahead of it. Come to the boards.

All 11 abstracts: learnmore.microgendx.com/EBJIS-MSIS_2026

Conference-accepted abstracts are not peer-reviewed publications.

Yellowed, swollen, or brittle nails? It's easy to assume fungus is always the cause, but bacteria can cause nail infections too. Telling them apart matters for your care.

1️⃣ Onychomycosis: fungal nail infection is the most common, often caused by Candida, Fusarium, and other fungi.
2️⃣ Paronychia: bacterial nail infection shares the same symptoms but needs a different care approach.

Testing for only either one isn't enough. Neither is waiting weeks for a fungal culture result.

NailKEY screens for both in a single test, against a database of 60,000+ microbes, and returns results in as little as 24 hours after receipt.

Plus, it checks for up to 17 types of drug resistance, so your doctor has more to work with in building an effective treatment plan.

Don't leave answers on the table or waiting because you tested for the wrong type of infection.
Get the full picture of nail health: https://loom.ly/SqLeCXQ

What does a failed diagnosis cost?

When culture comes back negative, the physician has to guess. When the guess is wrong, costs escalate fast.

A failed UTI treatment: over $2,600
A failed respiratory case: over $8,200
Bone infection: nearly $12,000 per year
An infected joint replacement: $58,000 to $116,000

The test that identifies the organism costs about $400.

DNA-based diagnostics find what culture cannot grow. Results in as little as 24 hours from sample receipt. Medicare already covers it.

Learn more at microgendx.com

Sources: Moon et al., PLOS ONE 2022; ISPOR 2023; Diabetes Care 2014; JBJS 2021
Coverage not guaranteed. Commercial coverage varies.
Created with AI assistance.