Role for arrays in clinical virology: fact or fiction?Polymerase chain reaction polymerase chain reaction (pŏl`ĭmərās') (PCR), laboratory process in which a particular DNA segment from a mixture of DNA chains is rapidly replicated, producing a large, readily analyzed sample of a piece of DNA; the process is (PCR PCR polymerase chain reaction. PCR abbr. polymerase chain reaction Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) ) detection of genomic DNA or RNA RNA: see nucleic acid. RNA in full ribonucleic acid One of the two main types of nucleic acid (the other being DNA), which functions in cellular protein synthesis in all living cells and replaces DNA as the carrier of genetic has become an indispensable tool for the diagnosis and surveillance of viral disease. Perhaps the biggest drawback of PCR, though, is that only one or a few viruses can be searched for in a single test. DNA chips or microarrays have the potential to overcome this disadvantage and can provide a near-patient test that identifies both known viruses and those causing newly emerging diseases such as SARS. For this potential to be realized, however, the PCR techniques capable of amplifying any adventitious ADVENTITIOUS, adventitius. From advenio; what comes incidentally; us adventitia bona, goods that, fall to a man otherwise than by inheritance; or adventitia dos, a dowry or portion given by some other friend beside the parent. sequence in a clinical specimen and the microarraying hybridization hybridization /hy·brid·iza·tion/ (hi?brid-i-za´shun) 1. crossbreeding; the act or process of producing hybrids. 2. molecular hybridization 3. and detection technologies necessary for obtaining rapid and reproducible results need to converge. The arrays that have already been developed for use in virology point the way forward. Clewley JP. A role for arrays in clinical virology: fact or fiction? J Clin Virol 2004; 29:2-12. Review. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.jcv.2003.08.002 |
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