ÉtudeScience

Medicine & Physiology · 1988

Primer-Directed Enzymatic Amplification of DNA with a Thermostable DNA Polymerase

Randall K. Saiki, et al. (incl. Kary B. Mullis)

Cetus Corporation

Science, vol. 239, pp. 487–491 ·

Cited by 17,000+
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This paper made the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) practical by using a heat-stable DNA polymerase (Taq) from a hot-spring bacterium. The change let DNA be copied through repeated heating and cooling without adding fresh enzyme each cycle.

Made PCR a routine tool, underpinning diagnostics, forensics, and genomics.

  • Thermostable Taq polymerase survives the high temperatures used to separate DNA strands.
  • Enabled automated, exponential amplification of a target DNA sequence.
  • Greatly improved the specificity and yield of PCR over earlier versions.

Repeated thermal cycling of a DNA sample with sequence-specific primers and Taq polymerase: denaturation, primer annealing, and extension, doubling the target copy number each cycle.

Keywords

Biology & Genetics

Initial Sequencing and Analysis of the Human Genome

Lander et al. · 2001 · Nature

The public Human Genome Project's first analysis of the human genome sequence. It presented a draft covering most of the genome and drew early conclusions about the surprisingly small number of human genes.

Cited by 24,000+Open access

Étude Science indexes and summarises this work; it is not the publisher. The summary above is written by Étude. For the definitive text, figures, and data, please consult the original publication via the link above. Saiki et al. (1988) hold the rights to the original work.