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Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

Topic

  • Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
  • DNA & RNA
  • Biotechnology

Resource Type

  • Videos
  • Animations

Level

High School — GeneralHigh School — AP/IBCollege

Duration

00:01:28
Saved By
19 Users
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View in Spanish

Description

This animation describes PCR, a standard laboratory technique for making many copies of a specific DNA sequence.

Polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, amplifies specific sequences of DNA with the help of primers, short sequences that are complementary to two regions flanking the target DNA. As shown in the animation, DNA is repeatedly heated and cooled in the presence of the primers and the enzyme Taq polymerase. In as few as 30 cycles, a billion copies of the target sequence can be made.

Depending on students’ background, it may be helpful to pause the animation at various points to discuss different steps in the PCR method.

Key Terms

amplification, annealing, denaturation, DNA, laboratory technique, molecular biology, primer, reagent, Taq polymerase, thermal cycling

Terms of Use

The resource is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. No rights are granted to use HHMI’s or BioInteractive’s names or logos independent from this Resource or in any derivative works.

Accessibility Level (WCAG compliance)

Video files meet criteria.

Version History

Date Published 02.04.10
Date Updated 04.27.22

Materials

Large (MOV) 6 MB
Large (WMV) 14 MB
Small (MOV) 3 MB
Small (WMV) 4 MB
Transcript (PDF) 146 KB
Spanish dub (MP4) 30 MB
Transcript - Español (PDF) 171 KB

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