Osmosis video - Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse-transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR)

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse-transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) are both techniques used in molecular biology. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used to amplify a single copy of a DNA sequence and generate thousands or millions of copies of a particular DNA segment. It has a wide range of applications, including the diagnosis of genetic diseases, the identification of bacteria and viruses, and the cloning and sequencing of genes.

On the other hand, reverse-transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) is used to amplify and detect RNA molecules. It is based on the same principles as PCR but uses reverse transcriptase to convert RNA into cDNA (complementary DNA) before the PCR reaction. RT-PCR can be used to detect viral RNA, and to measure the levels of gene expression in cells.