PCR (polymerase chain reaction) is a method to analyze a short sequence of DNA (or RNA) even in samples containing only minute quantities of DNA or RNA. PCR is used to reproduce (amplify) selected sections of DNA or RNA. Previously, amplification of DNA involved cloning the segments of interest into vectors for expression in bacteria, and took weeks. But now, with PCR done in test tubes, it takes only a few hours. PCR is highly efficient in that untold numbers of copies can be made of the DNA. Moreover, PCR uses the same molecules that nature uses for copying DNA:
Two “primers”, short single-stranded DNA sequences that are synthesized to correspond to the beginning and ending of the DNA stretch to be copied;
An enzyme called polymerase that moves along the segment of DNA, reading its code and assembling a copy; andA pile of DNA building blocks that the polymerase needs to make that copy.
Three major steps are involved in a PCR. These three steps are repeated for 30 or 40 cycles. The cycles are done on an automated cycler, a device which rapidly heats and cools the test tubes containing the reaction mixture. Each step — denatauration (alteration of structure), annealing (joining), and extension — takes place at a different temperature:
Denaturation: At 94 C (201.2 F), the double-stranded DNA melts and opens into two pieces of single-stranded DNA.
Annealing: At medium temperatures, around 54 C (129.2 F), the primers pair up (anneal) with the single-stranded “template” (The template is the sequence of DNA to be copied.) On the small length of double-stranded DNA (the joined primer and template), the polymerase attaches and starts copying the template.
Extension: At 72 C (161.6 F), the polymerase works best, and DNA building blocks complementary to the template are coupled to the primer, making a double stranded DNA molecule.
With one cycle, a single segment of double-stranded DNA template is amplified into two separate pieces of double-stranded DNA. These two pieces are then available for amplification in the next cycle. As the cycles are repeated, more and more copies are generated and the number of copies of the template is increased exponentially.
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