Polymerase chain reaction
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Polymerase chain reaction or PCR refers to a method of heat cycling to amplify DNA. It was made possible by the discovery of a thermophilic (heat loving) bacterium: thermus aquaticus. The DNA polymerase from this bacterium made DNA replication at high temperatures (60-70 degrees Celsius) possible. PCR consists of a melting period at 95 degrees Celsius, an annealing period at 55 degrees Celsius and a elongation period, at 68 degrees Celsius.
PCR was first developed in 1983 by Kary Mullis.[1]
Sources
1. Bartlett & Stirling (2003)—A Short History of the Polymerase Chain Reaction. In: Methods Mol Biol. 226:3-6