Like many researchers who had to run hundreds of Southern blots, I felt immediate relief the first time I used PCR for genotyping. It was no longer going to take seven days to see results, and I would never again have to use micrograms of DNA or handle radioactivity. In the years that the technology has grown, PCR has revolutionized both genomics and transcriptomics. It may even play into proteomics studies as immuno-PCR gains popularity.
Dozens of PCR-based genotyping technologies exist. Many are variations on a theme and can be as simple as running a gel of amplified DNA or as complex as detecting the addition of a single nucleotide. Choosing the right approach obviously depends on your needs, but here is a quick guide to sort through the pros and cons of some PCR-based genotyping assays. The table below lists some popular systems and platforms. And the following pages ...
