Tanuja Koppal, PhD discusses regular versus digital PCR with Drs. Emir Hodzic, Keith R. Jerome, and Ruth Hall Sedlak.

Digital PCR (dPCR) is a gene amplification method particularly suited to detecting and quantifying rare genes.

Stephen Bustin, PhD talks about the persisting problem of lack of transparency and reliability in current PCR data.

Food testing labs have traditionally used conventional PCR and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) to detect the presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food and feed. When quantification is required, GMO content in these samples is expressed in relative terms as the ratio of the quantity of the transgene, which is the nucleic acid fragment introduced in the host genome, to that of an endogene, a gene normally found in the host genome. 

Since its introduction in 2011, Bio-Rad Laboratory’s Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR™) technology has demonstrated the potential to be a transformative technology, particularly in clinical applications. At the second annual CHI Digital PCR Conference in San Diego, CA, Oct. 7–9, 2013, 12 scientists using Bio-Rad’s Droplet Digital PCR systems will highlight ddPCR applications that have advanced their research.

Basic research and clinical research labs have long relied on real-time PCR (qPCR) for its speed, sensitivity, specificity and ease-of-use. Common applications include gene expression analysis, mutation detection and identification of copy number variation to better understand inherited disorders, cancer and infectious disease.