Ayaz Najafov - PCR Guru: An Ultimate Benchtop Reference for Molecular Biologists

1. Tables in Chapter 2
2. Tables in Chapter 4

1. Figures in Chapter 1
2. Figures in Chapter 2
3. Figures in Chapter 4
4. Figures in Chapter 5

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ISBN: 978-0-12-804231-1

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I dedicate this book to my father, Azad Najafov, who introduced me to the world of molecular biology and to my friend and mentor, brahim Bar, who taught me how to do my first PCR.

Ayaz Najafov

I dedicate this book to my family to whom I am eternally grateful for their constant support and care for me and my academic career.

Gerta Hoxhaj

Ayaz Najafov

Ayaz was born in Baku, Azerbaijan and as a high school student, participated in local and international biology Olympiads, where he had won several gold, silver, and bronze medals. He obtained his BSc and MSc degrees in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Bosphorus University, Istanbul, Turkey, and got a 2-year training in Biochemistry as an intern at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States. Ayaz pursued his PhD in Biochemistry at MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit at Dundee University, Scotland, United Kingdom in Prof. Dario Alessis lab. Ayaz is currently a postdoctoral fellow in Prof. Junying Yuans lab at Harvard Medical School, Cell Biology Department.

Gerta Hoxhaj

Gerta was born in Fier, Albania. She obtained her BSc degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics, as well as a second major in Chemistry from Bosphorus University, Istanbul, Turkey. Gerta pursued her PhD in Biochemistry at MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit at Dundee University, Scotland, United Kingdom in Prof. Carol MacKintoshs lab. Gerta is currently a postdoctoral fellow in Prof. Brendan Manningss lab at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Department of Genetics and Complex Diseases.

This book was written with an aim of providing researchers practicing molecular biology, whether at their beginner or expert stage, with a handy tool and reference for setting up, performing, optimizing, and troubleshooting polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We believe that this book will provide tremendous assistance for solving problems associated with challenging cases of PCR.

This book does not provide the reader with vast details of the PCR theory and the multiple applications of the technique. As this book is a laboratory guide, the emphasis here was made on the technical aspects of employing PCR as a tool in molecular biology laboratories and the issues were described in bench terms, which makes the book more comprehendible to the end users of the technique.

General optimization and troubleshooting strategies, as well as a detailed guide for addressing specific PCR problems, tips and tricks developed and learned through years of experience with PCR and its various applications, several special cases for PCR, and appendices with protocols and other useful information related to PCR, make this book a practical reference all molecular biology laboratories can benefit from.

We would like to thank Ali Kavak, Aydin Mammadov, and Cafer Ozdemir for their comments and suggestions during the preparation of this book.

All agarose gel images published in this book were inverted (negative) to save ink/toner used to publish this book.

As DNA polymerase is the only enzyme in the standard PCR setup, and as there are many other DNA polymerases (besides Taq) used in modern molecular biology labs, we will refer to DNA polymerase as the enzyme.

We will use the term target for the specific sequence that is intended to be amplified using a set of primers.