Application of PCR technology

The PCR technology is extensively applied in the following areas of molecular biology, medicines, and biotechnology.

• Amplification of DNA and RNA

• Diagnosis of diseases and casual microorganisms. For example, PCR-based diagnostic tests for AIDS, chlamydia, tuberculosis, hepatitis, human papilloma virus, and other infectious agents and diseases are being developed. The tests are rapid, sensitive and specific.

• Determination of orientation and location of restriction fragments relative to one another.

• The PCR is important in detection of genetic diseases such as sickle cell anemia, phenylketonuria and muscular dystrophy.

• It is most applicable in forensic science where it is being used in search of criminals through DNA fingerprinting technology. However, the feasibility of fingerprinting is now being challenged in court of law. In these cases only small samples of biological materials are required.

• It is also applied in diagnosis of plant diseases. A large number of plant pathogens in various hosts or environmental samples are detected by using PCR, for example, viroids (associated with hops, apple, pear, grape, citrus, etc), viruses (such as TMV, cauliflower mosaic virus, bean yellow mosaic-virus, plum pox virus, potyviruses), mycoplasmas, bacteria (Agrobacterium tumifaciens, pseudomonas solanacearum, Rhizobium leguminosarum, Xanthomonas compestris, etc), fungi (e.g. Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Glomus spp; Laccaria spp., Phytophthora spp, Verticillium spp), and nematodes (e.g Meloidogyne incoginta, M. javanica, etc) (Henson and French, 1993; Chawla, 1998)

PCR is finding considerable and unique use in archaeology; it is doubtful whether scientists will be able to resurrect woolly mammoth and dinosaurs from the remains of ancient animals as epitomised in Michael Crighton's Jurassic Park.