Week 6 Reflection - PCR Assays and Primer Design
The paper for this week, written by Park et al. (2020), brought up many principles discussed in lecture on Monday. Specifically, the paper looked to eliminate primer dimer as well as having the least amount of similarity between other coronaviruses. Although not working on eDNA, there were similarities between methodologies we have seen so far in the course in the primer design and PCR reaction. I enjoyed learning about the additional step needed to be taken when using RNA and converting it to cDNA using the reverse transcriptase. I am a bit unclear on the benefits of real-time vs. traditional PCR protocols and am curious as to which would be more beneficial in an eDNA setting as opposed to the coronavirus setting.