Are SNPs Affecting Your PCR Efficiency?

Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT), the world leader in oligonucleotide synthesis, provides an overview in the latest issue of its quarterly newsletter, DECODED, of the importance of checking for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) when designing PCR assays. If PCR is performed using primers that overlap a SNP, the SNP can impact the progress of the PCR, and thus the accuracy of resulting data. The presence of SNPs can influence both primer and probe T_m, the efficiency of the polymerase extension, and target specificity. It is therefore essential that researchers assess whether a candidate sequence contains SNPs, and avoid designing primers and probe over SNP containing sequences. Providing researchers with peace of mind, the IDT PrimeTime qPCR Assays are developed using a proprietary design engine that checks each sequence against up-to-date SNP and intron/exon junction locations.

To find out more about how to ensure that your PCR assays are as efficient as possible, read the article, “When Designing PCR Assays, Always Check for SNPs”, which is available in the latest issue of DECODED.

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