Article
Article
Molecular pathology
Article By:
Lovell, Mark A. Diagnostic Molecular Pathology Laboratory, Department of Pathology, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, Virginia.
Last reviewed:December 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.430700
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A scientific discipline that deals with the origins and mechanisms of diseases at their most fundamental level, that of macromolecules, such as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and protein, in order to provide precise diagnoses and discover possible avenues for treatment. The field of molecular pathology is interdisciplinary, including infectious disease, oncology, inherited genetic disease (see illustration), and legal issues, such as parentage determination or forensic identity testing. Although a variety of biophysical and biochemical techniques can be applied to study the molecular basis of disease, antibody analyses and nucleic acid probes are two of the principal approaches. See also: Antibody; Clinical pathology; Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA); Genetics; Human genetics; Nucleic acid; Oncology; Pathology; Protein
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