Diagnostic Clinical Microbiology

The 21st Century is hailed as a potentially significant milestone in human history that will witness the next new wave of technology, namely the Biotechnological Revolution whose seeds were sown with the advent of many critical advances in molecular biology. Biotechnology is the integrated and practical application of bioscientific and engineering disciplines to the industrial processing of materials by biological agents to provide useful products and serve other desirable purposes. Recent advances in biotechnology have tremendous impact on numerous fields of human endeavor, including the food and agricultural industry, environmental management, and notably medicine. Fundamental scientific research in medicine, genetics, immunology and communicable diseases accelerated the discovery of new biotechnological innovations, especially in molecular biology over the last 30 years culminating in this “golden age of biology”. This leads to a better understanding of the principles of human health, disease etiopathogenesis, prevention and management, with important implications in clinical medicine and health care. For example, significant advances in unraveling the molecular mechanisms of cancer, a major global health problem, have been accomplished through the study of oncogenic viruses…