Pcr And Its Use :: essays research papers

PCR And Its UseOften times, scientists only have a small amount of DNA to deal with when doinggenetic research or studies. In these situations, scientists can do one ofseveral things. One is to just try to work with it anyway, but this is nearlyimpossible (depending on how much thither is). Ther are a couple other processesthey can use, or they can use PCR. PCR is one of the more complicated, butreliable ways to do tests on DNA when they only have a small amount to beginwith. PCR, or Polymearse Chain Reaction, is the scientific process used bygenetic scientists to re-create DNA."A rapid diagnostic technique used in the clinical microbiology lab to detectpathogens. It relies upon amplification technology utilizingthe heat stable DNApolymerase from a thermophilic organism." (fromhttp//www.genes.com/pcr/pcrinfo.html) Dr. K.Mullis recently authoritative the Nobelprize for inventing the technique.This is how they go about doing this They first get their small DNA sample.Then th ey mix all the chemicals (this includes the primer, etc). Then they haveto run it through the PCR machine. hither is a (rather detailed) description ofthe process "The cycling protocol consisted of 25-30 cycles of three-temperatures strand denaturation at 95degC, primer annealing at 55degC, andprimer extension at 72deg C, typically 30 seconds, 30 seconds, and 60 secondsfor the DNA Thermal Cycler and 4 seconds, 10 seconds, and 60 seconds for theThermal Cycler 9600, respectively."Basically, that means that they set it to certain temperatures, then put it in disparate cyles for different amounts of time. PCR machines can be comparedwith washing machines. There are the different temperatures (here for example,there is 72degC, where in the washing machine you would set it to cold/coldrespectively.For it to right on replicate, we must know how to match each of the followingA T G A T A T G G C A G C A A C G A C C A T Athe match would beT A C T A T A C C G T C C T T G C T G T A TTh e whole process is pretty much summed up like this They heat up the DNA tolet the enzymes break it down (or unzip its bonds). Then add specific amountsof the primer (relative to the amount of DNA you have. Then you add the enzymeto sets of 4 nuclotides that will go through the genetic sequence of nucleotidesand hook up the matching nucleotide (A goes to T and G to C etc).