Advanced techniques in molecular genetics and its implications on genetic testing and screening in the Arabian peninsula

Abstract

Molecular diagnosis of human disorders is referred to as the detection of the various pathogenic mutations in DNA and/or RNA samples in order to facilitate detection, diagnosis, sub-classification, prognosis, and monitoring response to therapy. The use of molecular biology techniques to expand scientific knowledge of the natural history of diseases, identify people who are at risk for acquiring specific diseases, and diagnose human diseases at the nucleic acid level. Molecular diagnostics combines laboratory medicine with the knowledge and technology of molecular genetics and has been enormously revolutionized over the last decades, benefiting from the discoveries in the field of molecular biology. This review will discuss in details the recent advances in molecular diagnostics and how the Arabian Peninsula can benefit from those techniques knowing for a fact the high percentages of consanguineous marriages and the tribal nature of marriages which resulted in high incidence of genetic diseases.