01Principal investigator
| Name | Prof. Mohamed E. Elbeeh — Professor of Physiology |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Genetics and Molecular Cell Laboratory, Department of Biology, Al-Jamoum University College, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 21955, Saudi Arabia |
| Work e-mail | mebeeh@uqu.edu.sa |
| Telephone | +966 55 247 5093 |
| ORCID | https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1009-9900 |
| Scopus Author ID | 58252247600 |
02Technical summary
What the capability does, in one paragraph.
The laboratory performs nucleic-acid-based detection and quantification of microbial and host targets and couples it with quantitative, digitally scanned histopathology of the same biological material. The two readouts are reported together, so the presence and load of an agent can be related directly to the tissue injury it produces. The workflow has been operated in routine diagnostic service and in peer-reviewed research, and is offered to third parties as independent testing, method validation and comparative evaluation.
DetectExtraction, real-time PCR and conventional PCR for bacterial,
fungal and viral targets in clinical, food, water and environmental samples.
CharacterizeCulture, identification and antimicrobial susceptibility
testing; resistance phenotyping for AMR surveillance.
Quantify injuryTissue processing, microtomy, staining, whole-slide
scanning and blinded morphometric scoring.
ReportValidation reports with traceable raw data, images and
statistics, suitable for independent confirmation.
03Facilities, platforms and containment
Containment and workflow integrity
- Operates at Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2).
- Three physically separate rooms — nucleic-acid extraction, PCR set-up and amplification — giving a unidirectional workflow that prevents amplicon carry-over contamination. This separation is the single most important structural control for trustworthy PCR results.
Molecular platforms
- Real-time PCR: Bio-Rad CFX96, used in routine diagnostic service from 2021 to 2024 running Seegene Allplex multiplex respiratory panels.
- Conventional PCR with agarose electrophoresis and gel documentation.
- Nucleic-acid extraction, manual and kit-based, in a dedicated extraction room.
Microbiology
- Bacterial culture and identification; antimicrobial susceptibility testing and resistance phenotyping.
Histopathology and digital pathology
- Tissue fixation, processing, embedding, microtomy, routine and special staining.
- Slides digitised as whole-slide images on a Philips UltraFast Scanner at ×20 (0.5 µm per pixel) and read in the Philips PathologySuite viewer; fields are exported and measured in ImageJ / QuPath. Digitisation makes every scored field re-auditable: a reviewer can re-measure the same slide rather than trusting a selected photograph.
In-vivo studies
- Animals supplied by the Animal House of Umm Al-Qura University under institutional ethics approval, enabling controlled challenge and countermeasure studies.
Declared limitation. The CFX96 instrument has reached the end of its reliable
service life. The laboratory retains the trained personnel, the validated protocols and the
multiplex-panel operating experience, but requires replacement of the real-time PCR platform to sustain
service at full throughput. This is stated openly so that any engagement is planned on accurate
assumptions.
04Defence-relevant applications
- Biological detection and surveillance — confirmation of bacterial, fungal and viral agents in water, food, clinical and environmental samples, with quantitative load estimates.
- Antimicrobial-resistance profiling — phenotypic and molecular characterisation of resistant organisms, relevant to force health protection and to mass-gathering settings such as Hajj.
- Verification of decontamination and protective measures — before/after testing of surfaces, water and materials to demonstrate that a procedure or product works.
- Pre-clinical evaluation of countermeasures and protective compounds — paired molecular and histopathological endpoints in rodent models, including toxicology of chemical exposures.
- Independent confirmation — blinded re-testing of results generated by another laboratory or by an industry partner.
05Evidence and supporting documentation
Shareable records of work produced with this capability.
| Publication record | Full list of peer-reviewed outputs on this site, and the authoritative continuously updated record at https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1009-9900 |
|---|---|
| Service record | Three years (2021–2024) of routine multiplex respiratory-panel diagnostics on the platform described in section 03 — the basis for the TRL 8 classification. |
| Validation reports | Study-level raw data, scanned slides and analysis files are retained and can be released to an evaluating authority on request, under a data-sharing agreement. |
| Intellectual property | Invention disclosures filed through the Umm Al-Qura University Intellectual Property Management Office; documentation available on request — see Projects. |
| Demonstration | A site visit can be arranged, including a live walk-through of the extraction → set-up → amplification workflow and the digital-slide viewer. |
06Proposed engagement
- Independent testing or validation of outputs developed elsewhere.
- Specialized testing and technical services on a per-study basis.
- Transfer of technical know-how — protocols, contamination-control design and digital-pathology scoring methodology — to a partner laboratory.
Enquiries: mebeeh@uqu.edu.sa · +966 55 247 5093