Excerpt:
What is a polymerase? A polymerase is a naturally occurring enzyme, a biological macromolecule that catalyzes the formation and repair of DNA (and RNA). The accurate replication of all living matter depends on this activity -- an activity scientists have learned to manipulate. In the 1980s, Kary Mullis at Cetus Corporation conceived of a way to start and stop a polymerase's action at specific points along a single strand of DNA.
Annotation:
This site covers the history of a critical technology for modern genetic and biological research. Polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, is a method for manipulating, splicing and replicating, in vast amounts, sequences of DNA and RNA. The author of the site, a professor at UCLA, has written an overview essay on the history of PCR in which he points to a wide array of advances and scientists who contributed to its creation. Supporting this essay is a bibliography linked to many of the groundbreaking articles relating to PCR from the latter part of the twentieth century, as well as its first uses in genome mapping, evolutionary biology and medical treatments. The site also includes an interview with Arthur Kornberg, a key figure in the history of recombinant DNA and biotechnology, and it asks for additional recollections from those who have been a part of the development of PCR and its many applications.