Question

What is the key to polymerase chain reaction?

Answer 1

Polymerase chain reaction:

1. Polymerase chain reaction is a process in which numerous copies of a particular segment of DNA are made in the laboratory.
2. It can be used for any purpose such as to determine the function of a gene located in a particular segment or for forensic purpose.
3. PCR requires an enzyme for making the copies of the DNA i.e. Taq polymerase ( isolated from the bacterium Thermus aquaticus which could survive high temperatures ).
4. High temperature is required to denature DNA or to separate the DNA strands.
5. Primers, which act as the template for the Taq polymerase to make the copies.

Final answer: The key ingredients of a PCR reaction are primer, thermostable DNA polymerase, template DNA and nucleotides.