Microsatellite instability testing

Microsatellites are tandem repeats of simple sequences that occur abundantly and are randomly interspersed throughout the human genome. They typically consist of 10-50 copies of 1-6 bp motifs, and are characterized by a high degree of polymorphism. Despite the variability observed among individuals, microsatellite are replicated faithfully at each cell division in normal germline and somatic cells (1).