Development of diagnostics for aquaculture: challenges and opportunities

The application of biotechnology in aquaculture has enabled the development and improvement of a wide range of immunodiagnostic and molecular technologies, and reagents and commercial kits have become more generally available. Recently, method development has increased exponentially as techniques used for clinical and veterinary medicine are adapted and optimized for use in aquaculture. Careful consideration needs to be given to selecting which rapid diagnostic methods to take forward and apply in aquaculture - pathogen detection methods need to be robust yet sensitive, and in many cases, capable of detecting a high degree of heterogeneity. There are numerous innovative techniques that may fulfil these criteria and provide valuable diagnostic tools. It is also important, however, that useful diagnostic methods already developed are standardized and fully validated, and that new technologies do not supercede these just because they are novel methods. The cost, speed, specificity and sensitivity of assays are all extremely important to end-users. This paper looks at some of the opportunities and challenges for the development of rapid diagnostics for aquaculture.