Improvement of the specificity and efficiency of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) by nanoparticles is an emerging area of research. We observed that TiO(2) nanoparticles of approximately 25 nm diameter caused significant enhancement of PCR efficiency for various types of templates (namely plasmid DNA, genomic DNA and complementary DNA). By a series of experiments, the optimal TiO(2) concentr...

The microreaction volumes of PCR chips (a microfabricated silicon chip bonded to a piece of flat glass to form a PCR reaction chamber) create a relatively high surface to volume ratio that increases the significance of the surface chemistry in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We investigated several surface passivations in an attempt to identify 'PCR friendly' surfaces and used those surfac...

giardia is one of the most common human parasites and causes a lengthly course of nonbacterial diarrhea. disease outbreaks due to giardia infection are often attributed to contaminated water supplies. a major problem associated with detection for this organism is the lack of sensitive and reliable methods. pcr has the potential to address many of the limitations.we have performed a pcr-based me...

Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are occasionally repeated when clinicians suspect false-negative results, but the conditions under which RT-PCR testing is warranted remain unclear. We evaluated practice of repeat SARS-CoV-2 in 45 patients who were retested after an initial negative PCR test...

Abstract Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 causing disease 2019 pandemic is an enveloped virus, showing genome similarity with bat coronavirus. This virus initially infects the upper tract, subsequent spread to lower tract. Despite availability of antigen and antibody detection methods, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) diagnostic test choice for this novel ...