Biologie moléculaire en dermatologie

The rise of molecular biology which studies the structure and function of biological macromolecules, in particular nucleic acids, introduced deep changes in biology, particularly in the genetic field, and led to a better understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms of inherited diseases, and also of some acquired pathological conditions. Dermatology, like many other medical specialities, has largely benefited from the development of techniques increasingly efficient, simple and accurate, both in terms of diagnosis and concerning the understanding of various affections (mainly genodermatoses, and tumoural, infectious and inflammatory disorders). In this setting, the genetic background of most genodermatoses has been identified but genotype-phenotype relationship remains to be established in a large number of affections. Besides, prenatal diagnosis is more frequent today in case of severe genodermatosis.