Are we prepared for the revolution in diagnostic technology?

Abstract

The advances in diagnostic technology have been significant over the past 3 decades. The introduction of the enzyme linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) revolutionised serological assays and enabled large scale automation of serological testing. Equally, the introduction of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) enabled the amplification of DNA and RNA gene segments and the detection of infectious agents with high sensitivity and specificity.