Question

Which best describes the purpose of the polymerase chain reaction[PCR]?

Answer 1

(Apex) To amplify small amounts of DNA and generate large amounts of DNA for analysis

Answer 2

The correct answer would be "to amplify the DNA or gene of interest in in-vitro condition".

PCR or polymerase chain reaction is one of the techniques of molecular biology which is used to amplify the DNA of interest.

The whole process can be divided into three main stages:

1. Denaturation: The two strands of template DNA are separated from each other. It takes place at around 94°C.
2. Annealing: The primers get attached to the template DNA. It takes place at around 54°C.
3. Extension: The enzyme Taq polymerase synthesizes the new strands of the DNA using dNTPs. It takes place at around 72°C.

The whole cycle is repeated for 30-40 times which produce around billion copies of the DNA in around 60-70 minutes.