kary mullis discovered the process that allows for polymerase chain reaction.
kary mullis discovered the process that allows for polymerase chain reaction.
who discovered the process that allows for polymerase chain reaction?
kary mullis
polymerase chain reaction (pcr) is the primary gene amplification technique that has revolutionized modern biochemistry. polymerase chain reaction was developed by kary mullis in 1983. there are four steps to a proper polymerase chain reaction: 1) denaturation 2) extension 3) insertion (of gene to be expressed) and finally 4) amplification of the inserted gene. these steps with simple illustrative examples of this process can be seen in the image below and to the right of this section. this technique allows for the copy of a single gene to be amplified into hundreds or even millions of copies and has become a cornerstone in the protocol for any biochemist that wishes to work with bacteria and gene expression. pcr is not only used for gene expression research but is also capable of aiding laboratories in diagnosing certain diseases such a lymphomas, some types of leukemia, and other malignant diseases that can sometimes puzzle doctors. without polymerase chain reaction development, there are many advancements in the field of bacterial study and protein expression study that would not have come to fruition. the development of the theory and process of polymerase chain reaction is essential but the invention of the thermal cycler is equally as important because the process would not be possible without this instrument. this is yet another testament to the fact that the advancement of technology is just as crucial to sciences such as biochemistry as is the painstaking research that leads to the development of theoretical concepts.
history of biochemistry
the touchdown polymerase chain reaction or touchdown style polymerase chain reaction is a method of polymerase chain reaction by which primers avoid amplifying nonspecific sequences. the annealing temperature during a polymerase chain reaction determines the specificity of primer annealing. the melting point of the primer sets the upper limit on annealing temperature. at temperatures just above this point, only very specific base pairing between the primer and the template will occur. at lower temperatures, the primers bind less specifically. nonspecific primer binding obscures polymerase chain reaction results, as the nonspecific sequences to which primers anneal in early steps of amplification will "swamp out" any specific sequences because of the exponential nature of polymerase amplification.
touchdown polymerase chain reaction