Pattern Genomics will present its first major case study at the ASM Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research Meeting in Washington, DC on January 29, 2014.  In the study, Pattern Genomics’ proprietary Daydreamer™ bioinformatics platform was used to generate a qPCR primer set to selectively detect methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).  By using over 110 relevant genomes as input and simultaneously analyzing them, the software was able to find a compact and comprehensive set of primer pairs that amplify only MRSA DNA without targeting non-resistant Staphylococcus or resistant coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species.  The primer set was shown to detect even recently-discovered community-acquired strains of MRSA, including those bearing a non-standard variant of the drug resistance gene.  By selecting appropriate combinations of priming sites specific to MRSA, the design avoids the need for probes.  The study shows the potential for Daydreamer™ to help design complex and clinically-relevant molecular diagnostics with minimal effort.