Reproducibility crisis in isothermal amplification: lessons from benchmarking LAMP assays
as a representative model organism, we set out to test whether all details required for implementing assays were provided by original publications and if important assay characteristics were reproducible. The results of this systemic benchmarking of nine published loop-mediated isothermal amplification assays revealed major discrepancies between reported and experimentally measured performance in terms of specificity, sensitivity, and limit of detection. By highlighting the crucial elements that need to be reported, this work aims to improve the transparency, reproducibility, and overall quality of isothermal amplification assays, fostering their broader application across different research settings.
Authors
- Regina Sommer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7781-1915)
- Claudia Kolm
- Rudolf Krska (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6843-9755)
- Alexander K. T. Kirschner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9797-3073)
- Andreas H. Farnleitner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0542-5425)
- Lena Campostrini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6602-6455)
- Georg H. Reischer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3962-8685)
- Lena Piglmann
Institutions
- Bioscience Research (US)
- Queens University (BD)
- Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene (DE)
- Interuniversity Cooperation Centre Water & Health (AT)
- Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences (AT)
- BOKU University (AT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Microbiology Spectrum
- Published
- 2026-04-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.03235-25
- Primary Topic
- Biosensors and Analytical Detection
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Gesellschaft für Forschungsförderung Niederösterreich
- Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft