Reflection - Wk6
This week’s class covered PCR Assays and Primer Design and a student-led discussion covering Park et al’s “Optimization of primer sets and detection protocols for SARS-CoV-2 of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) using PCR and real-time PCR”. The students also conducted a real-time experiment with the Biomeme qPCR machine, a definite high point!
During the lecture I appreciated the explanations and discussions of PCR and qPCR—now the two different processes make more sense! I’ve been curious about gel electrophoresis: what does the process entail, how does it work, and what does it mean (literally, how the heck do you read the dark blobs or faint blobs on the gel!), and this week solved that mystery. Also, we learned the importance of recognizing “primer dimers” or “hairpin loops” which are primers that anneal, or attach, to one another (not at all optimal in primer development!).