The discovery of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) by Kary Mullis (US Patent Number 4,683,202) triggered an unprecedented race for more specific, rapid and highly sensitive diagnosis methods in the clinical laboratory. A wide spectrum of infectious diseases and genetic disorders are now routinely tested using in-house designed or commercially available nucleic acid amplification tests and nucleic acid detection systems. Molecular biology testing can now aid in infection control interventions by accurately and rapidly determining antimicrobial resistance. Implementation of molecular diagnosis in clinics is not without the pains of labor. Experimental set-up, finding the ‘gold standard’ for results confirmation, dealing with standardization of DNA and RNA extraction and cross-contamination are among the problematic issues and logistic challenges often difficult to overcome in this process. High-throughput analytical platforms have been implemented in certain more sophisticated laboratories and lead to cost-effective testing and rapid turnaround time. The development of molecular techniques for diagnosis and also typing of potential agents of bioterrorism or emerging pathogens is also part of a larger strategy to develop rapid and sensitive testing while circumventing safety concerns related to growing these agents in culture. Acknowledging the rapid pace of application of molecular biology tools in clinical diagnosis, the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Biology is introducing a new section to highlight the present state of the art of molecular diagnostics in the clinical area. Manuscripts to be considered for this section should address the clinical application of molecular diagnosis of infectious diseases and genetic disorders including nucleic acid amplification tests, proteomics, microarray analysis, Human Genome Project, as well as clinical laboratory automation and validation methods. Kary Mullis (inventor of PCR and 1993 Nobel prize winner) and Dana Perkins (Assistant Editor, JCMM), 2003, National Inventors Hall of Fame, Akron, OH. Two papers in the field of molecular diagnosis are published in this issue [1, 2].