The Bioinformatic artistry behind PCR assay design

Designing a successful PCR assay is all about selecting the right primers to deliver the sensitivity and selectivity for which PCR is known for. But anyone that’s designed an assay themselves will know that doing so successfully is a lot harder it sounds. We’re joined by two PCR assay design pros for this episode. Kimi Soohoo Ong, and Dr. Rounak Feigelman, both from Thermo Fisher Scientific, shine a light on the many factors that must be considered to design a winning PCR assay. From the level of fragmentation of nucleic acids in the sample, to what other species’ genomes that may be present in the sample, to what the sample matrix may contain, to the PCR master mix being used, if multiplexing is required, to what assay controls will be, and more!  These two practiced bioinformaticians cover these challenges and then tell us how their team overcomes challenges to develop winning assays for both qPCR and dPCR applications. Our conversation uncovers the level of skill and artistry that goes into this craft. As always, you get to learn a bit more about our guests’ backgrounds and career paths in the Cassie’s Career Corner portion of the interview. They share how they both chose a bioinformatics path over wet lab work, while also acknowledging how important the wet lab work is to what they do. They also share some great advice and resources for anyone looking to explore a career in bioinformatics. Visit the Absolute Gene-ius page to learn more about the guests, the hosts, and the Applied Biosystems QuantStudio Absolute Q Digital PCR System.  Visit the Absolute Gene-ius page to learn more about the guests, hosts, and science featured in the series. Explore how Applied Biosystems™ QuantStudio™ Digital and Real-Time PCR Systems support research across neuroscience, oncology, agriculture, and more.