to the Polymerase Chain Reaction -- Setting Up a PCR Laboratory -- General Methodology -- Amplification from Archival Materials -- Quantitative PCR -- Mutation Screening Using PCR-SSCP -- Multiple Fluorescence-Based PCR-SSCP Analysis with Primer-, Post-, and Internal-Labeling -- The Amplification Refractory Mutation System -- Artificial Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (A-RFLP) Analysis -- Long Range PCR -- Generation of Labeled Probes by PCR -- PCR for the Detection of Minority DNA Populations -- In Situ Amplification -- Sequencing of PCR Products -- Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) -- Clinical Application -- PCR Amplification of Minisatellite DNA for the Detection of Mixed Chimerism After Bone Marrow Transplantation -- Diagnosis of Mitochondrial Disorders Using the PCR -- PCR Analysis of CD44 Variants in Tumors -- Detection of Circulating Solid Tumor Cells by Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction -- Detection of Circulating Tumor Cells Using lmmunobead-PCR -- Single Cell PCR -- PCR-Based Noninvasive Prenatal Diagnosis Using Fetal Cells in Maternal Circulation -- Noninvasive Prenatal Diagnosis Using a Single Fetal Nucleated Erythrocyte Isolated by Micromanipulation from Maternal Blood -- Diagnosis of Chromosomal Aneuploidies Using Quantitative Fluorescent PCR -- Detection of the Hepatitis C Virus by RT-PCR -- The Application of PCR to the Detection of M. tuberculosis in Sputum Samples -- Microsatellite Analysis in Human Disease.

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.