DNA microarrays in microbiology1

Abstract

Abstract The techniques for cultivation and identification of micro-organisms have changed little since the emergence of microbiology as a distinct discipline just over a hundred years ago. More recently, however, progress in molecular biology and the appearance of highly parallel analytic methods such as DNA microarrays have raised hopes of quicker, more accurate and broader identification of microbes and their sensitivities to antibiotics. These developments have even led some observers to predict the demise of conventional bacteriology. As outlined in the following contributions, however, such a scenario still lies in the future. The reasons for this are the high technical demands placed on molecular methods that are suitable for automation, and insufficient knowledge of the genetic basis of antibiotic resistance. Further difficulties are a lack of sensitivity and a fundamental inability of these methods to distinguish living bacteria from those that have already been killed.