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Polymerase chain reaction

Last reviewed 1 Jan 2018

The polymerase chain reaction is a means of producing a large amount of DNA quickly. Given that the targetted region of DNA is known, a DNA polymerase enzyme, with its nucleotide substrate, is made to produce this region repeatedly by markers to the site at which it starts and finishes - complimentary oligonucleotide primers.

PCR has been used to:

amplify prenatal samples e.g. chorionic villus for cystic fibrosis
prepare larger DNA samples for 'fingerprinting' from isolates at crime scenes
diagnose infectious disease e.g. meningococcal meningitis
screen for malignancy e.g. for predisposing human papilloma virus in those with cervical carcinoma

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