DNA probes in diagnostic pathology.

Molecular pathology has become firmly established as a distinctive discipline in medicine. It has introduced radical changes in concepts of disease causation and in classification of disease states affecting humans and other organisms. In addition, molecular pathology represents a "new" diagnostic technology with many potentials that have been heretofore untapped. This overview provides a discussion of the use of DNA probes in the study of human diseases. The role of detectable genetic abnormalities in pathogenesis will be considered, as well as their possible impact on nosology and disease classification.