Primer (molecular biology): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:46, 11 May 2007

Revision as of 00:30, 25 May 2007

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In [[polymerase chain reaction]], primers are used to determine the DNA fragment to be amplified by the PCR process. The length of primers is usually not more than 30 nucleotides, and they match exactly the beginning and the end of the DNA fragment to be amplified. They [[Annealing (biology)|anneal]] (adhere) to the DNA template at these starting and ending points, where DNA polymerase binds and begins the synthesis of the new DNA strand.

It is worth noting that primers are not essentially always necessiarynecessary for DNA synthesis and can infact be used by viral polymerases, e.g. influenza, for RNA synthesis.

==PCR Primer design==