The aim of molecular diagnostics is preferentially to detect a developing disease before any
symptoms appear. There has been a significant increase fueled by technologies from the human
genome project in the availability of nucleic acid sequence information for all living
organisms including bacteria and viruses. When combined with a different type of
instrumentation applied the resulting diagnostics is specific and sensitive. Nucleic
acid-based medical diagnosis detects specific DNAs or RNAs from the infecting organism or virus
and a specific gene or the expression of a gene associated with a disease. Nucleic acid
approaches also stimulate a basic science by opening lines of inquiry that will lead to greater
understanding of the molecules at the center of life. One can follow Richard Feynman¿s famous
statement ¿What I cannot create I do not understand.¿
