Nucleic acid probes in diagnosis of viral diseases of man. Brief review.

With the recent, rapid advances in recombinant DNA technology, it has become possible to consider the use of nucleic acid probes in diagnosis of human viral diseases. Several examples are discussed which employ techniques of dot blot hybridization, sandwich hybridization and in situ hybridization. Typing of viral strains using restriction endonuclease digestion as an epidemiological tool is considered. Finally, the present limitations of molecular hybridization are discussed, and future developments including the production of non-radioactively labeled probes, are assessed.