Transcript Slide 1

Definitions used in PCR Educational Video
Nucleotides - are molecules that, when joined together, make up the structural units of DNA and RNA (A-G-T-C).
Gene - is a code of nucleotides within DNA.
Target DNA – The piece of DNA strand that is the focus of the test, i.e. Contains the genes involved in CML.
Primer –a short nucleic acid that binds around the target DNA in order to replicate genes such as the ones involved
in CML.
Polymerase Enzyme - A protein that has enzymatic activity which directs the duplicating of DNA strands or can
transcribe the DNA to make mRNA .
Chain Reaction - A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product
causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying
chain of events . Examples of chain reactions include: Polymerase chain reaction, a technique used in
molecular biology to amplify (make many copies of) a piece of DNA enzymatic replication using a DNA
polymerase
Polymerase Enzyme
Primer
TAGCCTGG
CCAGA
Primer
Definitions:
Thanks to Dr. Pierre Laneuville and
Dr. Suzan McNamara
The CML Society of Canada 2009