According to the report of the American Physicists Organization Network on July 4 (Beijing time), British scientists have developed a new digital polymerase chain reaction (PCR) device that uses the tension of the liquid surface to take DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) samples Divided into more than 1 million identical small fragments. This allows scientists to directly calculate the number of individual molecules in each small fragment. The new measurement platform greatly improves the sensitivity and accuracy of sample screening. The research was published in the latest issue of "Nature · Methodology".
PCR, which came out in 1983, is an indispensable molecular biology technology. Scientists use it to amplify or copy specific DNA fragments. It is a special DNA replication technology in vitro. This technique relies on heating and cooling cycles of the reaction, using a protein called DNA polymerase (which is also used by living cells to replicate DNA) to replicate DNA fragments. Scientists generally use PCR to clone DNA, analyze genes, and detect genetic diseases in chemical and biological experiments; forensics also favor this technology. However, the current commercial digital PCR technology can only obtain 36960 small fragments at most.
Carl Hanson, an associate professor at the Center for Physics, Astronomy and High Throughput Biology at the University of British Columbia, who led the study, said: "The latest technology solves many major technical problems that limit the scale and accuracy of traditional digital PCR technology, creating hundreds Ten identical sub-reactions without defects also control the dehydration of these reactions in high and low temperature tests. "
The research team also found that the new "megapixel" technology also sets a new precise benchmark in detecting rare mutations. Moreover, it takes only 1 minute to split an array of 1 million small fragments.
Scientists say that this significant advancement can significantly improve the measurement accuracy of many genetic diagnostic and screening methods, including early screening of cancer, birth tests, detection of pathogens in food, and analysis of gene expression in individual cells.
Hansen said: "Our solution provides new precision for measurements in biomedical research and diagnostic research. This advancement is expected to make digital PCR a more economical, fast and routine analysis tool.
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