Introduction to Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization Methods

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Introduction to Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization Methods

Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) is a molecular detection technique that uses fluorescently labeled DNA probes to hybridize the complementary regions with the specimen’s DNA. The probes utilized include a chromosome enumerating probe (CEP) and a loci-specific identifier (LSI) probe. The CEP is designed to bind to repetitive sequences within a particular chromosome to detect the number of copy numbers present. The LSI probe is designed to bind to the loci of a specific target region or gene. LSI probes are often used to detect the loss or gain of a particular gene or loci region. Using fluorescent chromogens achieves visualization that can be visualized using specialized polarizing microscope equipment and filters.