Liquid biopsies for omics-based analysis in sentinel mussels

Liquid biopsy of plasma is a simple and non-invasive technology that holds great promise in biomedical research. It is based on the analysis of nucleic acid-based biomarkers with predictive potential. In the present work, we have combined this concept with the FTA technology for sentinel mussels. We found that hemocytes collected from liquid biopsies can be readily fixed on FTA cards and used for long-term metagenomic analysis of bacterial profiles of mussels. This liquid biopsy-based approach should thus facilitate biobanking activities and development of omics-based biomarkers in mussels to assess the quality of marine ecosystems.