Clinical Applications of PCR

This updated volume explores a wide variety of clinical applications of PCR such as detecting DNA methylation, detection of viruses and protozoa in infectious diseases, estimation of gene copy number aberrations, primer extension coupled with mass spectroscopy, and high throughput NGS techniques. The application of PCR has shown incredible value in the study of genomics and transcriptomics, not only for discovery but also for routine clinical applications, and it forms the cornerstone of personalized medicine. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include brief introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.

Thorough and authoritative, Clinical Applications of PCR, Third Edition serves as an ideal guide for researchers aiming to understand the principles behind each application and for their implementation in the laboratory.

A Targeted Q-PCR-Based Method for Point Mutation Testing by Analyzing Circulating DNA for Cancer Management Care.- COLD-PCR: Applications and Advantages.- PCR-Based Detection of DNA Copy Number Variation.- Emulsion PCR: Techniques and Applications.- Digital PCR: Principles and Applications.- Quantitative PCR for Plasma Epstein-Barr Virus Loads in Cancer Diagnostics.- High Resolution Melt Curve Analysis in Cancer Mutation Screen.- Locked Nucleic Acid Probes (LNA) for Enhanced Detection of Low-Level, Clinically Significant Mutations.- Genotyping of Frequent Mutations in Solid Tumors by PCR-Based Single-Base Extension and MassARRAY Analysis.- Microfluidics-Based PCR for Fusion Transcript Detection.- Polymerase Chain Reaction Diagnosis of Leishmaniasis: A Species-Specific Approach.- Detection of Trypanosoma cruzi by Polymerase Chain Reaction.- PCR Techniques in Next-Generation Sequencing.- Single Cell Quantitative PCR: Advances and Potential in Cancer Diagnostics.- Quantitative Real Time PCR: Recent Advances.- PCR Techniques in Characterizing DNA Methylation.