Several techniques exist that permit the efficient distinction among c
haracterized DNA sequence variants, In this review we discuss a number
of such analytic procedures. These techniques all take advantage of a
variety solid supports to prepare and analyze reaction products. The
described diagnostic principles are now being applied for the developm
ent of miniaturized assay formats, suitable for automated detection of
large sets of sequences in clinical samples. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc
.