Diagnostics can give functional read-outs (gene expression) of the disease state, but approved diagnostics largely look to DNA mutations.
The increased technological sophistication of diagnostics isn’t reflected in the diagnostics currently used in the clinic. Companies which have technology that can change the patient treatment pathway which leads to improved outcomes and reduced costs would be very compelling. Most of the diagnostics used for monitoring DNA mutations or expression levels of a singular protein. However, new technology allows RNA expression profiles (Signatur Bio) or histone modification patterns (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33432199/), and whole genome analysis (https://c2i-genomics.com) allows for higher fidelity readouts. Other new work improves the selection of sequences to allow for higher specificity diagnostics (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-022-01213-5). However the type of biomarker that holds the most promise currently is blood samples that look at T and B cell receptors. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7887928/). This has been shown to work for early detection of Stage I lung cancer (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169500221005535) with inroads being made in cervical caner, amongst others (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.624230/full)
https://tracxn.com/d/trending-themes/Startups-in-DNA-based-Liquid-Biopsy