The reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction is a technique that’s used to detect viral RNA in the human body. It’s also used to study the genetic make-up of viruses. That many people may have, such as the human herpes virus.
What do you understand about RT-PCR?
RT-PCR is also known as a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. It’s a method that’s nuclear-derived and it’s used for detecting a specific genetic material in any kind of pathogen or a virus.
Initially, markers of radioactive isotopes were used to detect the genetic materials that had been targeted. But now refining has replaced special markers with fluorescent dyes in place of isotopic labelling. This helps the scientists by showing immediate results, even when the process isn’t complete yet. But if we use the method of conventional RT-PCR. Then we can see the results only at the end process.
There are several uses of this real-time RT-PCR method. Let’s say a recent cause for detecting the COVID-19 virus. Several countries also use these methods for detecting other diseases. Examples are the Zika virus, COVID-19 virus, Ebola virus, etc.
This also helps in increasing the rate of testing in the entire nation.
What do you understand about a virus?
A virus is a type of biological entity. It’s made of genetic material that’s covered by a molecular envelope. It can infect a host and replicate inside it. This replication often results in the host’s death. Viruses bind intracellular parasites. Meaning they cannot reproduce on their own and must infect living cells to do so. The term “virus” was coined by analogy with the word “bacteria”, which means “a rod-like bacterium”.
DNA
DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. It’s the genetic material in a cell, which contains the instructions for making and sustaining life. DNA is found in the nucleus of all living cells and mitochondria, which are cell structures that produce energy. The DNA sequence of a person’s genome can be used to identify them as unique individuals.
This information can be used by law enforcement agencies. By this, they can identify criminals or by forensic scientists to identify victims of crime or disaster.
DNA can also be used by biologists to study evolutionary relationships between organisms and by genetic counselors who help couples understand the risks of passing on certain hereditary diseases.
RNA
RNA stands for ribonucleic acid. RNA is a nucleic acid that is present in all living cells. It plays an important role in the expression of genetic information from DNA to proteins. It’s a molecule that helps in the production of proteins. RNA is created from DNA and it has a complementary base sequence to DNA. RNA is also important for gene regulation, such as messenger RNA (mRNA) production from DNA and microRNA (miRNA) processing by the cell’s ribosomes.
In RT-PCR, RNA will be reverse transcribed into cDNA, which is then amplified by PCR and detected.
Real-time use of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction
The reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). It’s a technique that’s used to produce copies of RNA or DNA. This process involves the use of enzymes and nucleotides, which produces an exact copy of the original sequence. We call this process reverse transcription. As it starts with RNA, that’s transcribed into DNA by a reverse transcriptase enzyme. This DNA strand is then amplified by the polymerase chain reaction, which uses primers and appropriate enzymes for this purpose.
Get to know about covid by RT-PCR
RT-PCR is a technique. It’s used to detect the presence of RNA and DNA in a sample. It’s used to detect the presence of viruses, bacteria and other infectious agents in a sample. The COVID-19 virus is a type of RNA virus that infects humans. The RT-PCR technique is for detecting this virus. We do this by using an enzyme called reverse transcriptase to convert the viral RNA into DNA. This DNA can then be detected using PCR, which is a polymerase chain reaction.
The RT-PCR process is as follows
The first step in the process is to heat the sample to a temperature of 95 degrees Celsius.
This will activate the enzymes needed for RT-PCR.
Once activated, we need to extract RNA from the sample.
It’s done by adding some MgCl and EDTA into a solution, followed by centrifugation.
Then we need to remove the supernatant.
Finally, the RNA precipitates in a liquid nitrogen bath.
This process will provide you with several products, which include cDNA, total RNA and the PCR product of interest.
Conclusion
The reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction is used to detect and produce copies of RNA or DNA. This is for producing similar copies for the sequence. After reading this article, you’ll know everything about RT-PCR. Including DNA and RNA and how this method helps detect the COVID-19 virus. Contact us for more information related to this topic. We hope that now you have enough information about the topic which will help you in the future. If you face any problems, get in touch with us today.