Diagnostic RAS mutation analysis by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

Diagnostic RAS mutation analysis by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

RAS mutation analysis is an important companion diagnostic test. Treatment of colorectal cancer with anti-Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) therapy requires demonstration of RAS mutation status (both KRAS and NRAS), and it is good practice to include BRAF. In Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) and melanoma, assessment of RAS mutation status can be helpful in triaging patient samples for m...

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a powerful and widely used technique that has greatly advanced our ability to analyze genes. Genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) present in cells contains many thousands of genes. This makes it difficult to isolate and analyze any individual gene. PCR allows specific DNA sequences, usually corresponding to genes or parts of genes, to be copied from genomic...

Quantitative Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). Fatemeh Mehrpooyan*

Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (rt-PCR).

Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) has become a well-established and powerful molecular technique for studying ribonucleic acids. It is used in medical diagnostics for detecting viral RNA, in hematology and oncology for detecting chimeric transcripts of rearranged genes (1), and in the broad area of research applications in gene expression studies. Since its introduction (...

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR): A Short Review

was awarded the Nobel prize in Chemistry along with Michael Smith for his work on PCR2. The PCR is commonly carried out in a reaction volume of 10-200 μl in small reaction tubes (0.2-0.5 ml volumes) in a thermal cycler. The thermal cycler heats and cools the reaction tubes to achieve the temperatures required at each step of the reaction. Many modern thermal cyclers make use of the Peltier effe...