As most of our laboratories were called upon to provide some type of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) testing during the pandemic, we also were charged with addressing major challenges in laboratory practices over the past 2.5 years. At the time of this writing, COVID-19 cases are back on the increase in the United States, and the BA.5 Omicron variant is now the dominant strain. Mortalities due to the virus, however, have significantly decreased. We are beginning to see relief in supply chain provisions, and instrument requests have subsided nationally. Staffing has become more permanent versus parttime or traveler-type technologists, and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been forever engraved in the layperson’s mind. It is hard to say if the SARS-CoV-2 will ever be abolished or if it will become another part of our “normalcy.” What I am confident of is that molecular pathology efforts will once again be ramped up, and new and improved methods and clinical applications will rise from beneath the dark yet educational experiences of these past few years.
This fifth issue of Advances in Molecular Pathology embodies the fact that there is life in the laboratory beyond COVID-19 testing. We include articles that span the clinical applications of molecular technologies for genetic diseases, hematologic diseases, infectious diseases, pharmacogenomics, informatics, and solid tumors. I have opted not to include a “special” section on COVID-19, as we all must move past this and return to the R&D efforts of prepandemic times. This issue contains articles that discuss the latest clinical applications of molecular technologies from hereditary cancer syndromes through artificial intelligence applications in pharmacogenomics.
I am grateful to those friends and colleagues who once again agreed to becoming section editors and authors of the fantastic articles presented here.
Happy reading!
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Published online: September 28, 2022
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© 2022 Published by Elsevier Inc.
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