MIQE: A Step Toward More Robust and Reproducible Quantitative PCR

Featured Article: Bustin SA, Benes V, Garson JA, Hellemans J, Huggett J, Kubista M, et al. The MIQE guidelines: minimum information for publication of quantitative real-time PCR experiments. Clin Chem 2009;55:611–22.3 The concept of using in vitro enzymatic synthesis to amplify DNA was first mooted in 1971 (1) and demonstrated in 1985 as the “polymerase chain reaction” (2). PCR enables the detection of a unique DNA sequence amongst a vast background of other, similar DNA molecules. Its remarkable combination of conceptual simplicity and practical accessibility, together with the addition of reverse transcription for detection of RNA, and continuous improvements to reagents, protocols, and instruments has secured PCR's status as today's most versatile and ubiquitous molecular laboratory technique. In its original guise as an end-point assay, PCRrequired gel electrophoretic analysis. This method was time-consuming, limited in analytical sensitivity, dynamic range, and resolution, …