Home

PCR® was developed by Cetus Corporation scientists in 1984-1985. The discovery of a thermostable DNA polymerase from Thermus aquaticus (Taq)in 1988 revolutionized the PCR process. Numerous applications of PCR, such as DNA sequencing, RT-PCR, and site-directed mutagenesis, have been developed. PCR has had and continues to have a tremendous impact on molecular and evolutionary biology, disease diagnosis, forensic science, and human genetics.

Selected References

Eckert, K.A. and T.A. Kunkel. (1990) High fidelity DNA synthesis by the Thermus aquaticus DNA polymerase. Nucl. Acids Res.18: 3739.

Innis, M.A., K.B. Myambo, D.H. Gelfand, and M.A. Brow. (1988) DNA sequencing with Thermus aquaticus DNA polymerase and direct sequencing of polymerase chain reaction-amplified DNA. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA85: 9436.

Kawasaki, E.S., and A.M. Wang. (1989) Detection of gene expression. In: Erlich, H.A., ed., PCR Technology: Principles and Applications of DNA Amplification. Stockton Press, Inc., New York, NY, pp. 89-97.

Landt, O., H.P. Grunert, and U. Hahn. (1990) A general method for rapid site-directed mutagenesis using the polymerase chain reaction. Gene96: 125.

Lee, J.S. (1991) Alternative dideoxy sequencing of double-stranded DNA by cyclic reactions using Taq polymerase. DNA Cell Biol.10: 67.

Liang, Q., L. Chen, and A.J. Fulco. (1995) An efficient and optimized PCR method with high fidelity for site-directed mutagenesis. PCR Methods Appl.4: 269.

Mullis, K., F. Faloona, S. Scharf, R. Saki, G. Horn, and H. Erlich. (1986) Specific enzymatic amplication of DNA in vitro: The Polymerase Chain Reaction. Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology51: 263.

Saiki, R.K., D.H. Gelfand, S. Stoffel, S.J. Scharf, R. Higuchi, G.T. Horn, K.B. Mullis, and H.A. Erlich. (1988) Primer-directed enzymatic amplification of DNA with a thermostable DNA polymerase. Science239: 487.

**The PCR process is covered by U.S. patents owned by Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc. and F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

Copyright, Acknowledgements, and Intended Use
Created by B. Beason (bbeason@rice.edu), Rice University, 18 October 2000
Updated 16 April 2009