PCR Technology: Current Innovations

PCR’s simplicity as a molecular technique is, in some ways, responsible for the huge amount of innovation that surrounds it, as researchers continually think of new ways to tweak, adapt, and re-formulate concepts and applications. PCR Technology: Current Innovations, Third Edition is a collection of novel methods, insights, and points of view that provides a critical and timely reference point for anyone wishing to use this technology.

Topics in this forward-thinking volume include:

• The purification and handling of PCR templates
• The effect of the manufacture and purification of the oligonucleotide on PCR behavior
• Optimum buffer composition
• Probe options
• The design and optimization of qPCR assays
• Issues surrounding the development and refinement of instrumentation
• Effective controls to protect against uncertainties due to reaction variability

Covering all aspects of PCR and real-time PCR, the book contains detailed protocols that make it suitable as both a reference and an instruction manual. Each chapter presents detailed guidelines as well as helpful hints and tips supplied by authors who are recognized experts in their fields. In addition to descriptions of current technology and best practices, the book also provides information about new developments in the PCR arena.

Dr. Tania Nolan is an internationally recognized molecular biologist with a reputation for expertise in the field of mRNA quantification using RT-qPCR. She was a significant coauthor of the specialist textbook The A–Z of Quantitative PCR along with numerous other book chapters and peer-reviewed papers. She has presented several plenary lectures and chaired sessions at major international qPCR meetings.

Stephen A. Bustin, BS(Mod) PhD FSB acquired his first qPCR instrument in 1997 and has published numerous peer-reviewed papers that describe and use this technology. He wrote and edited the A–Z of Quantitative PCR, universally acknowledged as the "qPCR Bible," edited The PCR Revolution, and has written a series of Definitive qPCR ebooks. He also led the international consortium that drew up the MIQE guidelines.