ASCP Molecular Biology Exam Content Guidelines Per ASCP BOC

Getting an MB ASCP or SMB ASCP certificate is not easy but if you follow the ASCP molecular biology exam content guidelines, you can easily pass the ASCP.

• MB ASCP and SMB ASCP exams consist of 100 MCQs that are derived from molecular science, molecular techniques, laboratory operations, and the application of molecular testing.
• You have to cover all these questions in 2.5 hours.
• The score range for these both exams is 999; you only need to earn 400 to qualify for the certificate.
• The exam is administered by CAT, which shows the easy or tough questions by monitoring the answers to your previous questions.

The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Board of Certification (BOC) determines two exams in molecular biology: MB ASCP and SMB ASCP.

Molecular biology technologists and specialists use molecular diagnostic techniques to detect inheritance disorders, including infectious, metabolic, and malignant diseases.

The specialists use advanced techniques to provide the best results.

To get the certificates, you have to cover the exam content ecommended ASCP BOC guidelines.

The content guidelines are almost the same for both exams MB ASCP and SMB ASCP.

Here are the comprehensive details about the ASCP molecular biology exam content guidelines that will help you cover the main topics concisely during your preparaion process.

Molecular Science for ASCP Molecular Biology Exam Content Guidelines

The ASCP BOC specified 20-25% of exam questions for MB ASCP and 5-10% for SMB ASCP.

The main topics for this area are nucleic acid chemistry, basic molecular theory, biochemical reagents, and genetics.

Nucleic Acid Chemistry

• Mutations
• Chemical structure
• Sugars
• Bases
• Chemical structure
• Associated proteins

Basic Molecular Theory

• Transcription
• Structure of chromosome
• Replication
• Structure of proteins
• Splicing, introns, and exons
• Exons
• Extrachromosomal structure (mitochondrial, phage,
• Plasmid, etc.,)

Biochemical Reagents

• Assay design and development
• DNA ligase
• Reverse transcriptase
• Exo and endonuclease enzymes
• Polymerase enzymes (RNA, DNA)
• Chemical Reagents

Genetics

• Microbial
• Human

Molecular Techniques Of ASCP Molecular Biology Exam Content Guidelines

The molecular technique exam content areas cover 30-35% of questions for both exams.

This exam content comprises nucleic acid isolation, separation and Detection, manipulation of RNA/DNA (only for MB ASCP), sequencing, nucleic acid amplification, and other molecular techniques.

Further classification of all these categories:

Nucleic Acid Isolation

• Manual methods
• Automated methods

Separation and Detection

• Electrophoresis: Capillary and Gel ( agarose, acrylamide, etc)
• Nucleic acid purification
• Probe structure (Scorpions, simple, TaqMan, beacon, FRET, etc)
• Probe hybridization
• Probing  and blotting techniques like washing and stringency

Manipulation of RNA/DNA (Only for MB ASCP)

• Bisulfite conversion
• RFLP (Restriction fragment length polymorphism)
• Nucleic acid labeling

Sequencing

• Bioinformatics (file processing, quality score, read depth, pipeline, etc)
• Sanger sequencing
• NGS (Next-generation sequencing)
• Other (pyrosequencing, RNA sequencing, etc)

Nucleic Acid Amplification

• PCR variations (e.g., digital, multiplex, allele-specific, real-time, arrays, nested/hemi-nested, reverse transcriptase).
• PCR (Polymerase chain reaction) (Reaction optimization,  Oligonucleotide preparation and design)
• Other ( sequence-based [NASBA],  loop-mediated
• isothermal amplification [LAMP], hybrid Capture, transcription-mediated technology [TMA], etc)

Other Techniques

• MLST (Multi-locus sequence typing) (SMB ASCP only)
• Mass spectrophotometry (for insurance, MALDI-TOF MS)
• MLPA (Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification) (SMB ASCP only)
• Array technology (for example, microarray, bead)
• Epigenetic modification detection
• RFLP (Restriction fragment length polymorphism) (SMB ASCP only)
• ISH (In situ hybridization) (SMB ASCP only)
• Nucleic acid labeling (SMB ASCP only)
• Melt-curve analysis

Laboratory Operation Of ASCP Molecular Biology Exam Content Guidelines

The lab operation aces 15-20% of questions out of the total for the MB ASCP exam.

Regarding the SMB ASCP, it covers 25-30% of questions out of 100%.

The lab operation is divided into Contamination (amplified and non-amplified nucleic acid, biological, etc), Quality Assurance, Guidelines & Regulations, Personnel, Safety, and Laboratory Administration (SMB ASCP only).

Contamination (amplified and non-amplified nucleic acid, biological, etc)

• Detection and monitoring
• Prevention
• Elimination

Quality Assurance

• Instrumentation and Equipment: Maintenance, calibration, principles, validation, and troubleshooting.
• Proficiency testing and quality control: Proficiency testing and Assay controls
• Interpretation, result calculation, and reporting
• Assay troubleshooting
• Assay validation and performance
• Reagent selection, preparation, storage, documentation, and disposal
• Specimen transport, preparation, processing,  and storage: specimen quality and evaluate quality and nucleic acid quantity and evaluate quality.

Guidelines and Regulations

• Standards and regulations: FDA, CLSI, CMS, CAP, TJC, and CLIA
• Test system types: LDT (laboratory-developed test) and IVD (in vitro diagnostic), RUO (research use only) and ASR (analyte-specific reagent).

Personnel

• Competency
• Continuing education

Safety

• Hazardous materials disposal and handling: Chemical and Biological

Laboratory Administration (only for SMB)

• Quality Management: verification, instrument evaluation,
• Method, Assay, and validation; Quantitative calculations (standard curves, etc);  instrument selection, method, design, and assay; advanced statistical analysis.
• Personnel management: Productivity, staffing, motivation, disciplinary action.
• Financial Management: capital equipment acquisition, budgets, inventory, purchasing, reimbursement, and cost analysis.
• Operations Management:  Facilities management, Inter/Intradepartmental relations (ways of communication with clinical staff), and LIS (laboratory information system), maintenance, implementation, and development.

Application of Molecular Testing For ASCP Molecular Biology Exam Content

The application of molecular testing presents 30-35% of the questions for ASCP MB and 35-40% for ASCP SMB exams.

It consists of four parts, including Infectious Disease, Oncology, Genetics, and Others.

Infectious Disease

• Quantitative analysis (for example, viral load)
• Genotypic characterization (for instance, viral typing,  molecular
• epidemiology, resistance testing)
• Qualitative analysis (e.g., Clostridioides difficile, MRSA, STI, respiratory, pathogens)

Oncology

• Solid tumors
• Hereditary cancer syndromes (for instance, ovarian, colon, breast)
• Lymphomas/leukemias (for example, clonal rearrangements, ALL, translocations, CML)

Genetics

• Mitochondrial diseases
• Epigenetic diseases (Angelman, Prader-Willi)
• Single gene disorders  (e.g., Gaucher, hemochromatosis, hereditary, cystic fibrosis)
• Hemoglobinopathies (for example, sickle cell anemias, thalassemias)
• Trinucleotide repeat disorders (for instance, muscular dystrophy, Huntington, Fragile X)
• Coagulopathies (for instance, prothrombin, Factor V Leiden, and MTHFR).

Other

• Engraftment
• Histocompatibility
• Genetic identity (for example, identification, parentage, forensic, specimen)
• Pharmacogenomics (e.g., carbamazepine, warfarin, trastuzumab, clopidogrel)

Check Content for Cytogenetics. or Cytometry.

FAQs for ASCP Molecular Biology Exam Content Guidelines

Resources: ASCP BOC.