title: The expanding role of molecular biology in clinical chemistry.
abstract: Technical improvements in the application of molecular biology methods to detection and identification of specific nucleic acid sequences have resulted in more widespread incorporation of these techniques into clinical laboratory services. Gene amplification techniques have been refined and automated, making possible the rapid and economical detection of attomolar and smaller quantities of genetic material. Of particular benefit to clinical chemistry applications is the remarkable specificity of a DNA probe for its complementary sequence. Applications of molecular biology techniques in clinical chemistry include diagnosis of infectious, neoplastic, genetic, and hematological diseases. In addition, the use of oligonucleotides as molecular recognition probes may provide new analytical strategies for a wide range of diagnostic applications that currently rely on antibodies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Florida Health Science Center at Jacksonville, USA. rlb@umc.ufl.edu
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Bertholf
mesh_terms: D001331:Automation; D002624:Chemistry, Clinical / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D015342:DNA Probes; D030342:Genetic Diseases, Inborn / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008967:Molecular Biology / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis
chemical_list: D015342:DNA Probes