BIOL 200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 28: Taq Polymerase, Thermus Aquaticus, Dna Replication
Document Summary
Remind that we can separate dna by gel electrophoreses. Electrophoreses is a separation by size, therefore smaller molecules travel further in the gen, and bigger molecules stay being. Notice that biologists use the terms mass, and weight and size interchangeably. If a protein is 2x as long it is 2x heavier. We don"t really worry too much on the distinction between weight and size. Amplification of specific dna fragments by polymerase chain reaction. There is this particular dna fragment that we want to grow in vitro. Because it is replication, every time we do a cycle of replication, we have twice as much as what we have first. If we can imagine doing 35 cycles, the amount of the amplified fragment would be increased 2^35 fold. The amount of dna at the end is so high, that you"ve virtually purified that dna. Experiments have been done that have started with a single molecule of dna.
