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Advancing Methods in Molecular Biology and Genetics

Guest Editors:
Vaibhav Chand:
 University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
Diego A. Forero: Fundación Universitaria del Área Andina, Colombia


BMC Research Notes has published this Collection focused on Advancements and Additions to research techniques used in Molecular Biology and Genetics. Small changes to a method can produce huge improvements in research efficiency and reproducibility, while new, innovative techniques have the potential to reshape an entire research field.  

Meet the Guest Editors

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Vaibhav Chand: University of Illinois at Chicago, USA

Dr. Chand is an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research is centred on the role of FoxM1 in hepatocellular carcinoma and breast cancer. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Delhi University in India and his post-doctoral training at the University of Illinois at Chicago. 


Diego A. Forero: Fundación Universitaria del Área Andina, Colombia

Dr. Diego A. Forero, MD, PhD is currently Professor and Research Leader at the School of Health and Sport Sciences, Fundación Universitaria del Área Andina (Bogotá, Colombia). He is a Medical Doctor (Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia) and has a PhD in Biomedical Sciences (University of Antwerp, Belgium). He is member of editorial boards of several journals and has been a peer reviewer for numerous international publications, as well as academic and scientific institutions.

About the collection

The techniques we use to investigate the universe around us are essential for the advancement of science. Novel, methods can open whole new fields of study, while refinements to a protocol can dramatically improve its efficiency, accuracy and reliability of results. Such advancements have the greatest impact when shared and incorporated across research communities.

This collection, the first of a series at BMC Research Notes, showcases the myriad of improvements and additions to research techniques used across Molecular Biology and Genetics. We welcomed Research Note articles addressing:

  • Methods to improve sample or data quality 
  • Methods that improve reliability and accuracy
  • Faster methods
  • More powerful methods
  • Method comparisons and Commentaries discussing:
  • The history and future of significant techniques or methods in molecular biology and genetics
  • New or scientifically challenging techniques and their potential
  • Controversial methods or models and their impact


Image credit: jossdim / stock.adobe.com

  1. Pollen is a useful tool for identifying the provenance and complex ecosystems surrounding honey production in Malaysian forests. As native key pollinators in Malaysia, Apis dorsata and Heterotrigona itama forage ...

    Authors: Nurul Huda, Saeed ullah, Roswanira Abdul Wahab, Mohd Nizam Lani, Nur Hardy Abu Daud, Amir Husni Mohd Shariff, Norjihada Izzah Ismail, Azzmer Azzar Abdul Hamid, Mohd Azrul Naim Mohamad and Fahrul Huyop
    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2023 16:211
  2. To explore the use of multivariable instrumental variables to resolve the “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” adjustment problem created for Mendelian randomisation (MR) analysis using the smoking or lung ...

    Authors: Benjamin Woolf, Dipender Gill, Hannah Sallis and Marcus R. Munafò
    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2023 16:157
  3. To investigate the performance of GeneXpert MTB/RIF Ultra to accurately detect rifampicin resistance for less common rpoB mutations that potentially confer phenotypic resistance, we tested 28 such Mycobacterium t...

    Authors: Leen Rigouts, Jelle Keysers, Reenaers Rabab, Kristina Fissette, Armand van Deun and Bouke Catherine de Jong
    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2023 16:146
  4. RNA extraction from Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been a historically challenging task for researchers due to the thick lipids associated with the cell wall of this “notorious” pathogen that is responsible for T...

    Authors: NE Mvubu, A. Salig, K. Moopanar, ASG Nyide, D. Govender and E. Mankayi
    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2023 16:145
  5. Metatranscriptomic analysis of RNA viromes on built-environment surfaces is hampered by low RNA yields and high abundance of rRNA. Therefore, we evaluated the quality of libraries, efficiency of rRNA depletion...

    Authors: Yuh Shiwa, Tomoya Baba, Maria A. Sierra, JangKeun Kim, Christopher E. Mason and Haruo Suzuki
    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2023 16:142
  6. The discovery and characterization of tumor associated antigens is increasingly important to advance the field of immuno-oncology. In this regard, labyrinthin has been implicated as a neoantigen found on the c...

    Authors: Ankit Sharma, Michael Babich, Tianhong Li and James A. Radosevich
    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2023 16:139
  7. This work presents the design of a new protein based on the adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette (ABC) transporter solute binding protein (SBP) derived from Agrobacterium vitis, a gram-negative plant pathogen....

    Authors: Shonit Nair Sharma, Ashkhan Hojati, Bhargavee Gnanasambandam, Rahul S. Yerrabelli and Joshua Brozek
    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2023 16:129
  8. The microbiota of a seasoning sauce fermentation process is usually complex and includes multiple species and even various strains of one species. Moreover, composition and cell numbers of individual strains v...

    Authors: Tobias Link and Matthias A. Ehrmann
    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2023 16:115
  9. Ganoderma extracts have the potential to be used as anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulator, and antimicrobial agents, as evaluated in numerous studies. This study was aimed to determine the lethal and in...

    Authors: Mohammad ahmadi, Mahboobeh Salimi, Mehrzad Saraei, Niloofar Salavati Nezhad, Amir Javadi, Faezeh Mohammadi, Peyman Heydarian, Ehsan Ali and Elham Hajialilo
    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2023 16:82
  10. Comprehensive and reliable genome-wide variant analysis of a small number of cells has been challenging due to genome coverage bias, PCR over-cycling, and the requirement of expensive technologies. To comprehe...

    Authors: Zarko Manojlovic, Jordan Wlodarczyk, Cindy Okitsu, Yuxin Jin, David Van Den Berg, Michael R. Lieber and Chih-Lin Hsieh
    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2023 16:66
  11. A centrifugation-assisted peptide-mediated gene transfer (CAPT) method was recently developed as an efficient system for gene delivery into plant cells. However, the gene transfer efficiency of CAPT into plant...

    Authors: Mitsuhiro Kimura, Akira Endo, Yozo Nagira and Takeshi Yoshizumi
    Citation: BMC Research Notes 2023 16:46

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of Research Articles. Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have read our submission guidelines. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Advancing Methods in Molecular Biology and Genetics" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Guest Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Guest Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.