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Article: Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
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- Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, andSecurity
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Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
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BRYAN R. COBB
The Polymerase Chain Reaction, or PCR, refers to a widely used technique in molecular biology that has become quintessential in many aspects of DNA analysis with broad-based applications in medicine and forensic investigations. PCR is the amplification of specific sequences of genomic DNA, the genetic material found in virtually all living cells. This technology was conceived by the Californian geneticist Kary B. Mullis (1944), who won a Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1993 for developing PCR. It was
first applied to basic science research and later revolutionized modern medicine by improving the diagnosis of human diseases ...