The use of highly specific synthetic oligonucleotide (ODN) probes, which have superior hybridization kinetics and lower manufacturing costs compared to traditional genomic probes, is one approach that can be used to perform chromosome enumeration on interphase nuclei by FISH. ODNs also generally hybridize more rapidly, are more consistent, and are cheaper to manufacture. If highly repetitive sequences are targeted, properly designed synthetic ODN probes may prove to be superior reagents for rapid FISH.
