The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is one of the most important molecular biological methods ever devised, with numerous applications to cli- cal molecular medicine. Section 3 includes carefully chosen examples that represent typical applications of PCR in diverse clinical fields, encompassing hematology, oncology, genetics, and microbiology.

Clinical Applications of PCR offers an unprecedented collection of core PCR techniques for the study and diagnosis of human diseases. Cutting-edge and essential for today's diagnostic laboratories, these techniques heavily utilize nonisotopic, solution phase, and in situ amplification methods. A significant number of chapters describe applications exploiting the exquisite sensitivity of PCR in the detection of rare or single cells, as in identifying fetal cells circulating in maternal blood, preimplantation embryo diagnosis, or detecting circulating cancer cells.
The methods described in Clinical Applications of PCR will well serve diverse clinical specialties ranging from hematology/oncology, human genetics, and microbiology, to virology, pathology, and infectious diseases. The book repeatedly demonstrates the power of PCR-its high sensitivity, specificity, and ability to rapidly discriminate sequence variations.

Lo Y M Dennis

Clinical applications of PCR