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Not quite 30 years old, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the workhorse of many biology labs. While the basic premise—the amplification of DNA samples of interest—has remained constant, creative twists have allowed scientists to adapt the technique to a plethora of applications, including determination of gene expression levels via copy numbers of specific RNA transcripts via quantitative PCR. Advances in genomics have pushed researchers to boost PCR’s utility by both narrowing the focus—concentrating on genetic information from just one molecule or cell—and widening the net, by increasing the number of reactions run in a single experiment.
One technique that researchers employ to reach these goals is high-throughput PCR that takes place in an emulsion. A water phase containing the PCR solution—primers, polymerase, nucleotides, and ...
