Asymmetric PCR

Asymmetric PCR is a variation of PCR used to preferentially amplify one strand of the original DNA more than the other.^[1] The technique has applications in some types of sequencing and hybridization probing where having only one of the two complementary strands is required.^[2]

Asymmetric PCR differs from regular PCR by the excessive amount of primers for a chosen strand. Due to the slow (arithmetic) amplification later in the reaction (after the limiting primer has been used up) extra cycles of PCR are required.^[3]

A modification on this process, known as Linear-After-The-Exponential-PCR (LATE-PCR), uses a limiting primer with a higher melting temperature than the excess primer to maintain reaction efficiency as the limiting primer concentration decreases mid-reaction.^[4]

Asymmetric PCR can be used to form single stranded DNA from double stranded DNA, which is then used for DNA sequencing in the mutagenesis method.^{[citation needed]} Single stranded DNA is also important for aptamer generation.^[1]