4C - The Polymerase Chain Reaction

Question 1

polymerase chain reaction

Answer 1

A laboratory technique used to produce many identical copies of DNA from a small initial sample.

Question 2

amplify

Answer 2

To increase the quantity of a molecule by making many copies.

Question 3

primer

Answer 3

A short, single strand of nucleic acids that acts as a starting point for polymerase enzymes.

Question 4

Taq polumerase

Answer 4

A heat-resistant DNA polymerase enzyme isolated from the bacteria Thermus aquaticus, which amplifies a single-stranded DNA molecule by attaching complementary nucleotides.

Question 5

elongate

Answer 5

To synthesise a longer polynucleotide

Question 6

thermal cycler

Answer 6

A laboratory apparatus which alters the temperature in pre-programmed steps for temperature-sensitive reactions like PCR.

Question 7

anneal

Answer 7

The joining of two molecules, for example two complementary DNA strands during the cooling phase of PCR.

Question 8

forward primer

Answer 8

A DNA primer that binds to the 3’ end of the template strand and reads the DNA in the same direction as RNA polymerase.

Question 9

reverse primer

Answer 9

A DNA primer that binds to the 3’ end of the coding strand and reads the DNA in the reverse direction to RNA polymerase.