The first test I underwent was an EKG (electrocardiogram), which has been the front line test of cardiac diagnostics for many years.

FORBES: My Visit with a Cardiologist, and What You Should Know About Your Heart

So far big diagnostics companies have had only lukewarm interest in the test.

FORBES: Do-It-Yourselfer

This test is a rather major advance in heart diagnostics.

FORBES: My Visit with a Cardiologist, and What You Should Know About Your Heart

For instance, a new diagnostic test for tuberculosis is about to become more affordable and accessible in the developing world, causing diagnostics to leapfrog more than a century.

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"In the past you needed to do a culture" to test a person's virus, says Jorge Leon, former head of DNA testing at Quest Diagnostics (nyse: DGX - news - people ) and now president of molecular diagnostics consulting firm Leomics Associates.

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