Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) : MED NOW LABS

 

Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR)

You might have searched ‘RT PCR test near me’ before. But do you know what it really is? Well, this particular technique is a process carried out inside a laboratory. It involves the combination of reverse transcription of RNA into DNA (named cDNA or complementary DNA). Besides the addition of reverse transcription, the same process of PCR (polymerase chain reaction) continues, and the target DNA keeps amplifying. Further, the amplification process is looked over by the technique of real-time PCR that uses fluorescence.

While PCR practices enzymatic amplification of DNA, RT-PCR involves starting the process with RNA from scratch. Both of the methods have a slight difference. That little difference is the RT-PCR technique having an additional step of reverse transcription of RNA to DNA before the amplification step starts.

The Process of RT-PCR

It is again a simple process that starts with the collection of samples from your body parts like the nasopharynx and oropharynx through a kind of swab. The collected sample is then treated with certain chemicals to extract the RNA from it. This RNA consists of your genetic material as well as the virus's RNA (if present). Here, reverse transcriptase of total RNA or mRNA (messenger RNA) is used to transcribe RNA into complementary DNA (cDNA). For further continuation of the PCR process, this cDNA is used as a template.

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