PNA FISH: an intelligent stain for rapid diagnosis of infectious diseases.

Fluorescence in situ hybridization using peptide nucleic acid probes (PNA FISH) is a novel diagnostic technique combining the simplicity of traditional staining procedures with the unique performance of PNA probes to provide rapid and accurate diagnosis of infectious diseases; a feature that makes PNA FISH well suited for routine application and enables clinical microbiology laboratories to report important information for patient therapy within a time frame not possible using classic biochemical methods. Having transitioned from an academic curiosity into an advanced diagnostic tool, PNA probes are now debuting on the infectious disease stage, representing the new generation of therapy-directing diagnostics.