Digital PCR
Digital PCR (dPCR) is quickly becoming the go-to, complementary technology to real-time PCR for precise nucleic acid quantitation as it can deliver a high level of sensitivity and robust performance in the face of inhibitors. Digital PCR is being leveraged in a variety of research applications, providing unparalleled confidence in rare target quantification, copy-number-variation (CNV), gene expression, and more.
Digital PCR works by compartmentalizing a bulk PCR reaction into thousands of nanoliter-scale reactions, each containing zero, one, or just a few DNA molecules. By counting positive reactions and applying Poisson statistics, absolute quantification of the sample is achieved. dPCR overcomes common limitations of qPCR, such as the need for standard curves, low accuracy when measuring rare targets, and lack of sensitivity in high background conditions.