Real-time PCR sensing by thermal conductivity monitoring

Abstract

Traditional PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) technology is based on an end-point system which confirms the existence of a target DNA sequence by electrophoresis and UV transillumination steps. This process is labor-intensive and time consuming. A real-time PCR is the best alternative that can improve problems of analysis time and accuracy. Therefore, we propose a smaller, non-optical and non-labeling system with the advantages of an established real-time PCR. The proposed technique utilizes a variation of the thermal conductivity of the DNA sample with a PCR cycle. We confirmed that thermal conductivity depends on amounts of PCR products.