Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T19:19:11.612Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 8 - Circulating MicroRNAs Provide a Diagnosis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 June 2024

David C. Henshall
Affiliation:
RCSI University of Medicine & Health Sciences, Dublin
Get access

Summary

Shortly after microRNAs were discovered in humans they were found to be present in blood samples. This led to another branch of microRNA research with the potential to transform medicine, answering the question healthcare professionals ask every day. What’s wrong with my patient? This chapter introduces circulating microRNAs as biomarkers and their emergence as potential diagnostic tools. Core arguments in their favour as indicators of health and disease include tissue specificity, their known locations in the body enabling doctors to zero in on where a problem lies. It looks at what shelters microRNAs as they circulate in the bloodstream and the disruptive thinking that has interpreted such findings as evidence that extracellular microRNAs are conveyors of information between distant tissues in the body. It moves to efforts to probe ever-smaller volumes of biofluids to find the least-invasive source of microRNA biomarkers and the diseases for which microRNA-based diagnostic tests already exist or may emerge in the future. Finally, it looks at developments in RNA detection technology that might allow point-of-care testing and perhaps microRNA-based health monitoring at home.

Type
Chapter
Information
Fine-Tuning Life
A Guide to MicroRNAs, Your Genome's Master Regulators
, pp. 211 - 231
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×