Thermocycler aka. Thermal Cycler

What are they and why do we use them? What types are there?

A thermocycler heats and cools in a specific pattern for the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).

Thermocycler types;

1. Regular - Just heats and cools.

2. Gradient - Heats and cools but can vary the temperature across the columns of wells. This allows for Gradient PCRs, which allow you to quickly and easily identify the correct annealing temperature.

3. Quantitative - Heats and cools while observing fluorescence in a specific spectrum across all the wells. This allows for quantitative PCR and analysis of when the reaction enters the exponential phase. This can give interesting information about the concentration of the original sample as well as allow for reactions with fluorescent probes.

When do you use?

Anything Polymerase Chain Reaction related, such as;

• Gradient PCR

• Flanking Restriction Site Addition

• Confirmation of Edits

How do you use?

Read the Polymerase Chain Reaction protocol for more information about coding the thermal cycler. Read the manual for specific instructions on how to explain the cycle to your machine.