Molecular Biological Analyses and Molecular Pathology in Clinical Chemistry

The recent introduction of powerful methods for the analysis of nucleic acids has started a revolution in medicine, opening up a new field of molecular diagnosis. The core technologies of molecular diagnosis involve techniques for the amplification and characterization of nucleic acids. These techniques have enabled the diagnosis of many diseases with unprecedented sensitivity and specificity. As research tools, these methods have increased our understanding of many diseases on a molecular level, with the unraveling of the molecular pathology of many common disorders. Foundation for the rapid and continual development of molecular pathology into the next century has received a boost from the Human Genome Project (HGP), which is expected to be completed over the next few years and which will provide the essential genetic blueprint for future investigations.