The polymerase chain reaction

Abstract

The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a technique for the in vitro synthesis of billions of copies of a specific nucleic acid sequence by performing successive rounds of in vitro nucleic acid replication. This is achieved by using two oligonucleotide primers that hybridize (annealing) to the opposite strand of the target DNA at positions that flank the region to be amplified through simultaneous extension of both primers.