Quest’s Nichols Institute is at ground zero in the development of gene-based diagnostics

If genomics is ushering in an era of personalized medicine,where diagnostic tests predict diseases and determine the best drugs for patients,then you might say a 100-acre campus of futuristic buildings near the Cleveland National Forest is the testing ground. Literally.

Quest Diagnostics Inc.’s Nichols Institute near San Juan Capistrano is sometimes called the “laboratory’s laboratory.” The medical lab’s highly specialized, complex genetic tests give doctors in-depth clues about certain cancers, hepatitis C and the HIV virus, among other things.

“The industry is evolving with the genome. That’s where Nichols Institute comes into play,” said Bob Parente, an analyst with Leerink Swann