Question #124818
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a revolutionary method invented by Kary Mullis in the 1980s which copies the target sequence defined by a pair of primers exponentially. Can exponential amplification of any random sequence of DNA be achieved in PCR with only single primer? Hint: Refer the schematic in the diagram that represents randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) marker technology. You can substantiate your answer with help of this diagram, if required.
Expert's answer
It is possible to perform the polymerase chain reaction using only a single primer. During each cycle of amplification, the primer will anneal to the same strand producing complement DNA strand. As a result, one primer can be used to amplify a certain single-stranded DNA. However, the amount of produced DNA per cycle will be much lower than during the traditional PCR amplification. As a result, exponential amplification of any random sequence of DNA cannot be achieved in PCR with only a single primer.
