The process known as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) involves repeated cycles made up of several steps - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 34 - 2017 - Paper 1
Question 34
The process known as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) involves repeated cycles made up of several steps.
During PCR the
a. first step in each cycle is to anneal prim... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:The process known as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) involves repeated cycles made up of several steps - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 34 - 2017 - Paper 1
Step 1
first step in each cycle is to anneal primers to the DNA at a low temperature.
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Answer
This statement is true. The first step of PCR involves lowering the temperature to allow primers to bind or anneal to the template DNA.
Step 2
temperature must be lowered to 37 °C before the beginning of each cycle.
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Answer
This statement is false. Generally, the temperature is lowered to approximately 50-65 °C during the annealing phase, not specifically to 37 °C.
Step 3
second step in each cycle is to heat the DNA to a high temperature.
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This statement is true. The second step, known as denaturation, involves heating the reaction to around 94-98 °C to separate the DNA strands.
Step 4
final step of each cycle involves the use of DNA polymerase.
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Answer
This statement is true. The DNA polymerase enzyme is responsible for synthesizing new DNA strands during the extension step of PCR.
