Abstract
Once a highly specialized subdiscipline of laboratory medicine, molecular diagnostics now infiltrates all of anatomic and clinical pathology. The shift from dependence on a few, relatively cumbersome methods to a wider range of technologies has facilitated this expansion. In addition, the completion of the Human Genome Project and the growing amount of sequence data related to infection, cancer, and other disease states have yielded additional applications of molecular biology for the clinical laboratory (Fig. 7.1). As the various phases of testing can be automated in many instances, molecular biological experience is no longer a pre-requisite. In fact, performance of nucleic acid extraction and amplification in a tabletop unit is possible.1,2 Increasingly, miniaturization will further move molecular testing to the point of care.
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Blakey, G.L., Farkas, D.H. (2009). General Approach to Molecular Pathology. In: Allen, T., Cagle, P.T. (eds) Basic Concepts of Molecular Pathology. Molecular Pathology Library, vol 2. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-89626-7_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-89626-7_7
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