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| | What is a Polymerase Chain Reaction? |
 | | Like the nuclear chain reaction, the polymerase chain reaction is an exponential process that proceeds as long as the raw materials for sustaining the reaction are available. |
 | | A modern polymerase chain reaction requires six basic components to work: the DNA segment to be copied, primers to delimit the segment, Taq polymerase to do the copying, DNA nucleotides to serve as feedstock, a chemical buffer environment, and a machine called a thermal cycler. |
 | | Polymerase chain reactions have a variety of uses, including paternity testing, determining the presence or absence of a genetic defect or viral DNA, cloning a gene, introducing specific mutations, analyzing the DNA of extinct species or dead persons, “genetic fingerprinting” at the crime scene, and more. |
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