PCR overview Function can amplify a selected region of DNA Process solution prepared containing login to view 4 more bullets denaturation of dsDNA by heating annealing of DNA primer specific for region of interest and slowly cooling the solution replication of DNA at the primer by heat stable DNA polymerase repetition of the process several times gel electrophoresis used to separate the various components of the solution Clinical use in all uses PCR functions to amplify the amount of DNA present in a sample high specificity bacterial/viral infection testing login to view 13 more bullets genetic identification login to view 7 more bullets direct mutation login to view 1 more bullet RT-PCR overview Function used to measure the amount of RNA present in a sample Process reverse transcriptase is added to solution containing RNA, dNTPs, primers for specific sequence of interest, and heat stable DNA polymerase RNA is converted to DNA and DNA sequence of interest is amplified When combined with quantitative (real-time PCR), the combined qRT-PCR (quantitative reverse transcription PCR) assesses the amount of RNA in the original sample by measuring the amount of amplified PCR product after a set number of PCR cycles, which is directly proportional to the concentration of RNA in the original sample Clinical use HIV viral load login to view 2 more bullets