Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is an extremely sensitive technology that allows for the rapid amplification of DNA. By generating billions of copies of a gene or specific DNA region, PCR can be used to establish the presence of a very small amount of pathogen or disease in blood, bone marrow or tissue. Like fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), PCR does not require actively dividing cells to identify a specific DNA mutation and can routinely detect a change in 1 in 100,000 cells.

In oncology, PCR can be used to isolate and amplify the DNA of tumor suppressor genes and proto-oncogenes and analyze single cells to quantify any combination of DNA, mRNAs and proteins.