RT-PCR for Diagnosis SARS CoV-2

I.    Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

• The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a process for the amplification of specific fragments of DNA
• The Driver of PCR is the Polymerase enzyme.
• A polymerase will synthesize a complementary sequence of bases to any single strand of DNA providing it a double stranded starting point
• Any gene can be specifically amplified by the polymerase in a mixed DNA sample by adding small pieces of complementary DNA
• These small pieces of DNA are known as primers because they prime the DNA sample ready for the polymerase to bind and begin copying the gene of interest
• During a PCR, changes in temperature are used to control the activity of the polymerase and the binding of primers

Click to Enlarge