Final answer:
The purpose of raising the temperature to 90-95°C at the beginning of each cycle of PCR is to denature the double-stranded DNA, allowing primers to bind and enabling the DNA polymerase to extend the growing strands.
Step-by-step explanation:
Raising the temperature to 90-95°C at the beginning of each cycle of PCR serves the purpose of denaturing the double-stranded DNA so that it dissociates into single strands. This step is important because it allows the primers to bind to the denatured DNA, enabling them to anneal to the template strands in the next step. Heating to 90-95°C also facilitates the activity of the heat-stable DNA polymerase, which extends the primers by adding nucleotides to the 3’ends of each growing strand.