Final answer:
The statement is False; PCR utilizes Taq polymerase, not RNA polymerase, to amplify DNA. Taq polymerase can withstand the high temperatures used in the process, which is key to successfully amplifying the target DNA sequence.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that PCR uses RNA polymerase to amplify DNA is False. PCR, which stands for Polymerase Chain Reaction, actually uses Taq polymerase to amplify DNA. The enzyme Taq polymerase originates from the thermally stable bacterium Thermus aquaticus, which allows it to withstand the high temperatures required during the PCR process.
The steps involved in PCR include denaturation of the DNA strands, annealing primers to the target sequences, and extending the primers to create new strands of DNA. These steps are cycled repeatedly to produce millions of copies of the target DNA sequence. While there is a related technique called reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) that does involve an RNA template, it uses reverse transcriptase to first convert RNA into DNA (cDNA), after which PCR can be performed to amplify the DNA.