Quantitative analysis of nucleic acids - The last few years of progress

Abstract

DNA and RNA quantifications are widely used in biological and biomedical research. In the last ten years, many technologies have been developed to enable automated and high-throughput analyses. In this review, we first give a brief overview of how DNA and RNA quantifications are carried out. Then, five technologies (microarrays, SAGE, differential display, real time PCR and real competitive PCR) are introduced, with an emphasis on how these technologies can be applied and what their limitations are. The technologies are also evaluated in terms of a few key aspects of nucleic acids quantification such as accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, cost and throughput.