The polymerase chain reaction – a new research and diagnostic method in virology

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is an in vitro method which uses enzymatic synthesis to amplify, in an exponential manner, specific DNA or RNA sequences. Although it has been available for only a few years, PCR technology is already finding widespread application in biomedical research. This article presents a broad overview of the principles of PCR, summarizes some of the application problems, and describes some measures taken to overcome them. The main applications of PCR-based assays in virology are also discussed.