Guest guest Posted March 12, 2006 Report Share Posted March 12, 2006 HI all, PCR stands for Polymerase Chain Reaction test. It's a very sensitive and rapid way of detecting specific and extremely small quanities of DNA sequences and used in molecular biology for disease pathogens like bacteria and virus's. Exfoliated or shed cells, whole blood, serum, sputum, urine, etc. even a strand of hair can be analyzed or typed by PCR (think of OJ's trial). It can even be used for genetic mutations looking for susceptibility towards certain diseases. I don't 'think' it's commonly done (but could be wrong) and used more in research and study type labs or forensic science, but probably good to ask for I suppose if one has something long standing and it can't be diagnosed. Interesting hon that you had one done. Hope that helps a bit and from what I know about it. You'll often see those letters PCR in medical abstracts with studies and reports. Dee~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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