Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR): Back to Basics Ehtisham Mohammad1, Wani Firdous2, Wani Iram3, Kaur Prabhjot4, Nissar Sheeba5 1P.G Student, Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Institute of Dental Studies and Technologies, Kadrabad, Modinagar, (U.P.)-201201, India 2P.G Student, Department of Oral Medicine & Radiology, Shree Bankey Bihari Dental College & Research Centre, Ghaziabad, (U.P.), India 3P.G Student, Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Shree Bankey Bihari Dental College & Research Centre, Ghaziabad, (U.P.), India 4P.G Student, Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Swami Devi Dayal Dental College & hospital, Barwala, (Haryana)-134118, India 5P.G Student, Department of Periodontics & Oral Implantology, Shree Bankey Bihari Dental College & Research Centre, Ghaziabad, (U.P.), India Online published on 20 August, 2016. Abstract Advanced molecular technology has become a crucial tool for identifying new genes with importance in medicine, agriculture, animal production, health, environment, industry other related areas. Among the applications of molecular techniques is important to highlight the use of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in the identification and characterization of viral, bacterial, parasitic and fungal agents. PCR is a process used in molecular biology to amplify a single copy or a few copies of a piece of DNA across several orders of magnitude, generating thousands to millions of copies of a particular DNA sequence. Mechanisms involved in this methodology are similar to those occurring in vivo during DNA replication. Through this paper we will review procedure, advantages, types & applications of PCR. Top Keywords PCR, DNA Hybridization, Denaturation, Annealing, RT-PCR. Top |