Advances in polymerase chain reaction

Simplifying PCR – or Polymerase Chain Reaction, a biotechnology technique used to replicate a specific portion of a much larger sample of DNA - and the related instrumentation could enable advances in both clinical and basic research as well as expand the number of places where molecular biology diagnostic testing could be performed.

Reporting in the January 2011 issue of BioTechniques, researchers from the National Taiwan University in Taipei describe their development of a new PCR system that requires only a capillary tube and a single isothermal heating unit.