Biología molecular en Infectología parte I: Desarrollo y metodologías

Abstract

Eventhough Molecular Biology was iniciated at the end of the XIX century, the discovery of the structure of DNA is considered the beginning of this field. Advances during 1960-1970 produced methods and technologies to study microorganisms at molecular level. In particular, the discovery of DNA polymerase and the specificity of DNA reanaturation are the bases for Polymerase Chain Reaction, Transcription Mediated Amplification, and Branched DNA methods useful for diagnosis and direct quantitation of infectious agents. Finally, the complete genome sequence should ultimately result in new methods for diagnosing and treating infectious diseases.