Background for PCR:
DNA is the recipe cells use to create and sustain life. A location on a strand of DNA is called the gene locus and the different variations of the gene are called alleles. So a designated parking spot would be similar to the gene locus and the car parked there would be akin to an allele. If scientists want to study a particular locus in a set of samples, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can be used to produce multiple copies of a specific region.
The basic steps to PCR:
First, the sample's DNA must be mixed with a combination of primers, a buffer, and a special enzyme named Taq that is heat resistant. Then the mix is heated and cooled repetitively to allow the primers and enzyme to create new copies of the DNA in a cycle. When finished, the DNA is multiplied/amplified and can be used for forensics, the detection of viruses, genotyping(observing which samples have which alleles), etc.
How PCR will help my project:
I learned PCR this summer because we have used it for genotyping our plants in progeny testing. We use a PCR technique called KASP PCR which amplifies the DNA as intended but also uses special primers that can be detected by a machine. So when the PCR is finished, a machine can use the primers to help us genotype (give us the allelic combination at certain locations) our plants. In our case, we are looking at genetic differences between our samples at a certain region to help narrow where we believe the chlorophyll locus is.
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