Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) At Biology Glossary

What is it? A powerful method for amplifying specific DNA segments which exploits certain features of DNA replication. For instance replication requires a primer and specificity is determined by the sequence and size of the primer. The method amplifies specific DNA segments by cycles of template denaturation; primer addition; primer annealing and replication using thermostable DNA polymerase. The degree of amplification achieved is set at a theoretical maximum of 2^N, where N is the number of cycles, eg 20 cycles gives a theoretical 1048576 fold amplification.

Bio Definition Added By: Kaitlyn

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