Current trends in molecular microbiology

Throughout the past several years molecular pathology has played an increas ingly important role in diagnosis and management of disease. Current molecu lar methods include genetic testing, epidemiologic studies, tissue typing, in situ hybridization, forensics, parentage testing, and detection, identif ication, and classification of microorganisms. Arguably the leading area fo r application of molecular methods has been in the diagnosis and monitoring of infectious diseases. Molecular techniques used in microbiological diagn osis include nucleic acid amplification techniques, DNA sequencing and typi ng direct molecular probe techniques (in situ hybridization), and nucleic a cid quantitation. Commercially available reagents, equipment, and test kits enable implementation of this technology in the clinical laboratory.