Suppose we have a certain segment of a DNA molecule ,a gene for example that we want to amplify ,that is make many identical copies of that gene of interest, one way is to basically take that gene to integrate it into a bacterial plasmid to place that recombinant plasmid into a bacterial cell and to allow that bacterial cell to divide many times and eventually make many copies of that gene of interest. The problem with this particular method is that it is not only time consuming and not only is it ineffective but it also limits the size of that gene that we can actually use.
A much more effective and much more efficient and accurate method is the Polymerase Chain Reaction. This method allows us to amplify a certain sequence of DNA very quickly …show more content…
After one cycle the DNA is amplified to two. After two cycles it will be amplified to 4 Individual copies of that DNA and so on. About twenty-thirty of similar cycles can take place within an hour. All that needs to be done to repeat the cycle is to increase the temperature back to 95 °C only, as the mixture already has all the essential ingredients. So we see that the PCR is very effective and very efficient in amplifying the DNA.
Advantages of PCR
PCR has many advantages over other methods which are listed below:-
1) It is a simple technique to understand and use.
2) The results are produced rapidly.
3) It is highly sensitive, with the ability to produce millions of copies of a specific product for sequencing, cloning, and analysis.
Limitations of PCR
However , the process also has its limitation as follows:-
1) Since it is highly sensitive, any form of contamination of the sample by even trace amounts of DNA can produce misleading results.
2) To design primers for PCR, some prior sequence data are needed.
3) The primers used for PCR can anneal non-specifically to sequence that are similar but not completely identical to the target
A much more effective and much more efficient and accurate method is the Polymerase Chain Reaction. This method allows us to amplify a certain sequence of DNA very quickly …show more content…
After one cycle the DNA is amplified to two. After two cycles it will be amplified to 4 Individual copies of that DNA and so on. About twenty-thirty of similar cycles can take place within an hour. All that needs to be done to repeat the cycle is to increase the temperature back to 95 °C only, as the mixture already has all the essential ingredients. So we see that the PCR is very effective and very efficient in amplifying the DNA.
Advantages of PCR
PCR has many advantages over other methods which are listed below:-
1) It is a simple technique to understand and use.
2) The results are produced rapidly.
3) It is highly sensitive, with the ability to produce millions of copies of a specific product for sequencing, cloning, and analysis.
Limitations of PCR
However , the process also has its limitation as follows:-
1) Since it is highly sensitive, any form of contamination of the sample by even trace amounts of DNA can produce misleading results.
2) To design primers for PCR, some prior sequence data are needed.
3) The primers used for PCR can anneal non-specifically to sequence that are similar but not completely identical to the target