Question

What are Probes? Explain their types.

Answer 1

In molecular biology, a hybridization probe is a fragment of DNA or RNA of variable length (usually 100–1000 bases long) which can be radioactively labeled.

It can then be used in DNA or RNA samples to detect the presence of nucleotide sequences (the DNA target) that are complementary to the sequence in the probe.

There are four basic types of probes used: Linear probes – are generally high frequency better for imaging superficial structures & vessels also called vascular probes.

Curvilinear probes – have widened footprint and lower frequency for transabdominal imaging & widen the field of view.