De la conception du PRINS

SUMMARY From the conception of the PRINS to its coronation As a non-isotopic molecular cytogenetic technique, theprimed in situ (PRINS) labelling reaction represents amajor technological progress achieved in the pastdecade. It has become a routine technique for the micro-scopic visualization of specific DNA sequences in cellsand nuclei and constitutes a good alternative to thefluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) procedure.Among the multiple advantages that characterize thePRINS technique, specificity, rapidity, reliability, repro-ducibility, and cost-effectiveness can be mentioned.PRINS can be in addition associated with other tech-niques like FISH, indirect immunofluorescence, and nicktranslation. The most recent developments show thegreat potential of this technique. Now PRINS can be usedto study single-copy genes and, consequently, can beroutinely used to investigate deletions associated withmicrodeletion syndromes. Therefore, the PRINS tech-nique has the potential to become a widely used molecu-lar cytogenetic tool in clinics and research. This short