Recent advances in DNA techniques have opened new possibilities to
develop a rapid, specific and sensitive method for diagnosis of
tuberculosis. Amplification of mycobacterial DNA using the
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has shown that it could be a
powerful tool for the identification of Mycobacterium
tuberculosis in clinical samples (B Savic et al. 1992 J
Infect Dis 166: 1177-1180).
