In the spring of 2011, Dr. Joseph Burrascano with Advanced Laboratory Services in Sharon, PA, asked Dr. Marra to provide patients who would be willing to participate in a ground breaking study to develop a blood culture for Borrelia.  Several of her patients were thrilled to participate in the study that subsequently yielded significant results. 

In October 2011, Dr. Burrascano and Advanced Laboratory Services announced that the Borrelia blood culture study was a great success and was ready to be offered to physicians and patients for clinical use.  Blood cultures for many other infectious diseases are considered the gold standard in traditional medicine.  Therefore this is quite a milestone in the techniques for properly diagnosing of Lyme disease.

The Advanced Laboratory Services blood culture is a direct test that is said to have a sensitivity exceeding 80%, and will greatly increase the likelihood of identifying spirochetal bacteria in patients who test negative on traditional antibody serology tests.  This test will significantly aid physicians in identifying the causative agent of disease, if it is indeed due to the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.