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Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), also known as quantitative PCR (qPCR), is a laboratory technique used to amplify and simultaneously quantify a specific DNA target in a sample. It combines the amplification steps of traditional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with the ability to measure the amount of DNA produced in real-time during the amplification process.

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Real-time polymerase chain reaction by Ciro Santilli 37 Updated 2025-06-17 +Created 1970-01-01
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Also known as: Quantitative PCR (qPCR).
Like PCR, but the amplification machine measures the concentration of DNA at each step.
This describes one possible concentration detection method with fluorescent molecules that only become fluorescent when the DNA is double stranded (SYBR Green)
Video 1.
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) - Quantitative PCR (qPCR) by Applied Biological Materials (2016)
Source.
This allows you to predict the exact initial concentration by extrapolating the exponential curve backwards.
TODO: vs non-real-time PCR. Why can't you just divide by 2 for every heating step to reach back the original concentration? Likely the reaction reach saturation at an unknown step.
TODO: vs non-real-time PCR in medical diagnostics: do you really need to know concentration for diagnostics? Isn't it enough to know if the virus is present or not?
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