Molecular diagnostics is a specialized division of clinical laboratory medicine or pathology that includes tests involving nucleic acids (i.e., DNA or RNA). Nucleic acid based tests allow physicians and genetic counselors more accurate diagnosis of many acquired infectious diseases, cancers, and drug sensitivities. In addition, molecular diagnostics is a powerful tool in determining inherited disorders, whether an individual is a carrier of a particular genetic disorder, or whether an individual has a genetic constitution that leads to higher levels of susceptibility or predisposition to genetic disease.

Study of the molecules DNA or RNA reveals information about an individual's genes through a search for genetic variation or abnormalities, providing an interface between molecular research and applied medicine. It may overlap with or complement cytogenetic or biochemical approaches used in other genetics laboratories, in which chromosomes or protein products of genes, respectively, are studied. Because of the...