Molecular biology in diagnostic microbiology. PCR on Mycobacterium leprae

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has already produced several hundreds of papers. Alternative procedures for diagnostic purposes based on nucleic acid detection do exist but have until now found less application. Problems with the PCR are discussed. It is proposed that the diagnostic microbiology laboratory has a section devoted to PCR for the diagnosis of diseases whose etiologic agent can "almost not" be cultured such as (for Flanders) Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Toxoplasma gondii, EB virus and some other agents in particular specimens. In this setting the PCR would only be performed on selected, clinically justified samples, in close collaboration between clinician and microbiologist. PCR will evidently play an important role in research. Illustration is given of PCR applied for the detection Mycobacterium leprae.