What is an Oligonucleotide? Oligonucleotides are tiny bits of nucleic acids or short strands of DNA and RNA produced in a laboratory through a solid phase chemical synthesis. From here, Oligonucleotides are used in various molecular biology experiments. It can be used for DNA sequencing by synthesizing a fluorescent label Oligonucleotide wherein fluorophores are attached to Oligonucleotides. For a more accurate fluorophore combination, dual-labeled probes can be used as these are more sensitive.
Oligonucleotides are primarily used in screening diseases. It is used as DNA probes in a microarray chip to observe gene activities and study genetic diseases. Micro array chips are also used to check if a person is infected with a disease through the person’s body secretions. This will aid in filtering out what kind of illness a person has since most symptoms are alike. In DNA sequencing, a single strand of DNA and Oligonucleotides are combined and synthesized together. This process will produce a double strand DNA. Oligonucleotides are often used in genetic engineering experiments, it can amplify tiny fragments of DNA which contributes to more accurate results in paternity testing and forensics.
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