Publication

Abstract : The use of real-time PCR has become gold standard for many of the viral diagnosis at present and has replaced the need for culture-based and immunofluorescence-based techniques because of being relatively less time-consuming and inexpensive. Availability of whole genome sequences of viruses accelerated the development of quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assays for diagnosis of viruses. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have emerged as powerful technique to perform massive parallel sequencing which enables us to sequence large number of samples with almost no limitation of pathogenic agents and targets on the genome. Application of NGS in viral diagnosis includes viral discovery using metagenomic approach and targeted sequencing approach. However, this current technology has many limitations as well. In this chapter, we summarized the role of NGS in viral diagnostics, applications, and limitations.