Real-Time PCR

Abstract

Over the past few years there has been a considerable development of DNA amplification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and real-time PCR has now superseded conventional PCR techniques in many areas, e.g., the quantification of nucleic acids and genotyping. This new approach is based on the detection and quantification of a fluorescent signal proportional to the amount of amplicons generated by PCR. Real-time detection is achieved by coupling a thermocycler with a fluorimeter. This chapter discusses the general principles of quantitative real-time PCR, the different steps involved in implementing the technique, and some examples of applications in medicine. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) provides a way of obtaining a large number of copies of a double-stranded DNA fragment of known sequence. This DNA amplification technique, developed in 1985 by K. Mullis (Cetus Corporation), saw a spectacular development over the space of a few years, revolutionising the methods used up to then in molecular biology. Indeed, PCR has many applications, such as the detection of small amounts of DNA, cloning, and quantitative analysis (assaying), each of which will be discussed further below.