Molecular Diagnosis of Infection
Benedík J., Černý J., 1Votava M., 2Wechsler J., Horváth R., Dendis M. , Grijalva M.
Centrum kardiovaskulární a transplantační chirurgie, Brno 1Mikrobiologický ústav FN u s. Anny, Brno 2I. chirurgická klinika FN u s. Anny, Brno |
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Summary:
Molecular diagnostics (detection of nucleic acids bymolecular genetics techniques) becomemore valuable in clinical
diagnosis of disease. Apart fromthe already long-time used genetic techniques for detection of congenital anomalies,
current use of molecular techniques includes detection of microbial pathogens. The character of these techniques
increases the possibility of achieving diagnosis in cases where classical cultivation is not possible, is not reliable or
is not fast enough. As with every new approach, molecular diagnostics have faced encountered reactions from the
scientific community. Some scientists tend to overestimate the value of molecular diagnostic techniques, while
sceptics, sometimes influenced by a biased or incomplete knowledge of the technology, think it is of little value. In
this work, on the basis of literature and our own data from more than 5 years of experience with these methods, we
have assessed the pros and cons of the use of molecular diagnostics of infectious diseases in the light of their potential
use in clinical practice.
Key words:
molecular diagnostics, microbiological diagnosis, hybridisation, amplification, polymerase chain
reaction.
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