Real Time PCR Tutorial Helps Train Researchers

2007-03-08 10:33:40

( Education )



Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a technique used to create copies (also called amplification) of DNA fragments. You can use the technology in many applications. PCR helps in diagnosing infectious diseases, detecting hereditary diseases, paternity testing, and even in crime investigations.

You usually copy only short DNA strands of 10 thousand base-pairs, although some methods can copy up to 25 thousand base-pairs (by comparison, a human cell has 3 billion base-pairs).

You normally go through about 40 rounds of amplification before you analyze the PCR product using a certain stain. This analytical method, however, is only a qualitative tool for detecting the presence or absence of a specific DNA. Competitive PCR is another analytical method, but is time-consuming. Thus real time PCR was developed, and along with it, the real time PCR machines used for analysis.

Real time polymerase chain reaction has become the more widely practiced method to achieve a more quantitative rt pcr. Since its invention, researchers have developed variations in real time PCR protocols that depend on the type of DNA to be amplified. This has underlined the need to have real time PCR tutorials.

You can develop a real time PCR tutorial designed for beginners in PCR technology. You'll need to find a way to help them understand the differences between conventional PCR and real time PCR, particularly in the quantitative analysis aspects. Or, you can design one for researchers who need refreshers in the use of real time PCR.

You can find several online Web sites offering real time PCR tutorials. You will appreciate the degree of detail in some of these sites: while you read a paragraph of text instructions, you will find right beside them some graphs and calculations pertaining to the subject. The real time PCR tutorial may come in text or presentation formats, although the text presentation is more detailed.


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