diagnostics Review Advantages and Limitations of 16S rRNA Next-Generation Sequencing for Pathogen Identification in the Diagnostic Microbiology Laboratory: Perspectives from a Middle-Income Country Nurnabila Syafiqah Muhamad Rizal 1, Hui-min Neoh 1,* , Ramliza Ramli 2, Petrick @ Ramesh A/L K Periyasamy 3, Alfizah Hanafiah 2 , Muttaqillah Najihan Abdul Samat 2 , Toh Leong Tan 4 , Kon Ken Wong 2, Sheila Nathan 5 , Sylvia Chieng 5 , Seow Hoon Saw 6 and Bee Yin Khor 7 1 UKM Medical Molecular Biology Institute (UMBI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia; nabilasyafi
[email protected] 2 Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia;
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[email protected] (K.K.W.) 3 Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia;
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[email protected]; Tel.: +60-3-9145-9074; Fax: +60-3-9171-7185 Received: 14 August 2020; Accepted: 11 October 2020; Published: 14 October 2020 Abstract: Bacterial culture and biochemical testing (CBtest) have been the cornerstone of pathogen identification in the diagnostic microbiology laboratory.