Molecular biology automation in the clinical laboratory

Although nucleic acid analyses have been available in the clinical lab since the discovery of the genetic implications of DNA by Watson and Crick in 1953, it was not until the development of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique in the early 1970s that molecular testing made a significant impact on the clinical lab. As a result, both the types of molecular testing and the instrumentation to perform them have advanced dramatically. Despite this, there are no completely automated instruments that perform nucleic acid analyses, although there are a number of semi-automated systems that can be combined with a minimum of manual intervention. The purpose of this article is to present an overview of some of the equipment available for molecular testing in the clinical laboratory with a brief description of their applications. The keyword listing at the end of this abstract mirrors the category classifications used for equipment described in this article.