One of the most basic sources of information in biology is nucleic acid. While the nature of DNA (desoxyribonucleic acid) is comparable to a library where all details are stored, RNA (ribonucleic acid) is more involved in information transfer. In the century of information technology, it is only natural to analyze both kinds of nucleic acids for identifying predispositions (reading DNA) as well as the actual status of a biological system (reading RNA). However, the usually very low number of nucleic acid molecules, e.g., only two DNA strands of a single gene within a mammalian cell, lies beyond detection limits as long as detection techniques do not reach single molecule sensitivity. Moreover, the effort needed for electrical, optical, or chemical signal amplification is so high that such a technique cannot be applied to numerous applications, especially in the field of point of care testing. Hence, the solution is not improving detection limits, but performing target amplification.
Access provided by Autonomous University of Puebla. Download to read the full chapter text
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Keywords
- Microfluidic System
- Nucleic Acid Amplification
- Genome Amplification
- Cyclic Olefin Copolymer
- Microfluidic Technology
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Münchow, G., Drese, KS. (2007). Nucleic Acid Amplification in Microsystems. In: Hardt, S., Schönfeld, F. (eds) Microfluidic Technologies for Miniaturized Analysis Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-68424-6_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-68424-6_13
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-28597-9
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-68424-6
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)