Isothermal DNA amplification is a useful substitute for this technique in low-resource settings if thermocyclers are not available. For 10 points each:
[10e] Name this lab technique for in vitro DNA replication, the most accurate technique for diagnosing infectious diseases like COVID-19.
ANSWER: PCR [or polymerase chain reaction; or quantitative PCR or qPCR; or reverse-transcription quantitative PCR or RT-qPCR; accept any other specific types of PCR]
[10m] The simplest isothermal amplification method replaces the PCR melt step with one of these enzymes that forms the replication bubble during cellular DNA synthesis.
ANSWER: helicases [or helicase-directed amplification; prompt on HDA]
[10h] Melt-free isothermal amplification strategies combine a strand-displacing DNA polymerase with an enzyme that performs this process. This process cuts only one strand of the double helix and relieves topological stress in supercoiled plasmids.
ANSWER: DNA nicking [or forming a nick in DNA; or nickases]
<Adam Silverman, Science - Biology> ~20887~ <Editor: Adam Silverman>