Novel nanoscale detection of real-time DNA amplification holds promise for diagnostics
Wednesday, September 7, 2016 - 08:31
in Physics & Chemistry
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a simple and ubiquitous method in molecular biology for amplifying DNA segments into millions of copies. This is important not only for basic research, but also in diagnostics, forensics, and medical applications. Quantitative real-time PCR is a modified version that incorporates fluorescence labeling to cumulatively measure DNA amplification, rather than monitoring it at the end of the process, as in conventional PCR. Real-time PCR therefore enables sensitive quantification of the amount of the initial DNA template. However, current techniques may introduce bias through sequence errors, pipetting inaccuracies, or unequal binding of fluorescent probes (hybridization).