Process
DNA replication
Copying DNA before a cell divides. Each new double helix keeps one original strand and gains one new strand.
PCR
The polymerase chain reaction copies a chosen stretch of DNA millions to billions of times.Source: NHGRISource: Saiki et al., 1988
Also called polymerase chain reaction.
Technology or method
How PCR connects
PCR uses
Organism or group
Thermophiles
Microbes that thrive in heat, such as Thermus aquaticus from hot springs, the source of a heat-stable enzyme used in PCR.
Process
Base pairing
In DNA, A pairs with T and G pairs with C (RNA uses U instead of T). The matching lets each strand act as a template for the other.
Studied in
Your progress
Sources & further reading
The explanations on this page are our own summaries of these sources. Follow a link to read the original; if anything here disagrees with it, the original wins. How we choose and check sources.
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) (opens the original in a new tab)
National Human Genome Research Institute. Talking Glossary of Genomic and Genetic Terms. National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH.
ReferenceGovernment sourceEducationalPrimer-directed enzymatic amplification of DNA with a thermostable DNA polymerase (opens the original in a new tab)
Saiki RK, Gelfand DH, Stoffel S, et al. (1988). Science 239:487-491.
PCR with heat-stable Taq polymerase.
Peer-reviewedPrimary research