Beyond hybridomas. Cell identification by in situ nucleic acid hybridization

Nucleic acid hybridization is a powerful technique that has been developed almost entirely by molecular biologists. It has the potential to identify specific types of cells with far greater sensitivity and specificity than such current methods as polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies or lectins. As the RNAs or DNAs (probes) needed for this technique become available, it is likely to replace other methods of identifying many kinds of cells in tissue sections.