title: Polymerase chain reaction technology as analytical tool in agricultural biotechnology.
abstract: The agricultural biotechnology industry applies polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology at numerous points in product development. Commodity and food companies as well as third-party diagnostic testing companies also rely on PCR technology for a number of purposes. The primary use of the technology is to verify the presence or absence of genetically modified (GM) material in a product or to quantify the amount of GM material present in a product. This article describes the fundamental elements of PCR analysis and its application to the testing of grains. The document highlights the many areas to which attention must be paid in order to produce reliable test results. These include sample preparation, method validation, choice of appropriate reference materials, and biological and instrumental sources of error. The article also discusses issues related to the analysis of different matrixes and the effect they may have on the accuracy of the PCR analytical results.
authors.affiliation: Monsanto Co., 800 N. Lindbergh Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63167, USA. markus.lipp@monsanto.com
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lipp
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shillito
authors.forename: Randal
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Giroux
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Spiegelhalter
authors.forename: Stacy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Charlton
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pinero
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods*; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000235:genetics; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D005504:Food Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D030841:Food, Genetically Modified; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D010957:Plasmids / Q000378:metabolism; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D011786:Quality Control; D012015:Reference Standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D004247:DNA