After setting up a PCR reaction Phil noticed that he'd forgotten to put primers into the mix. When he runs a gel of the PCR reaction after the reaction is finished he sees a positive result. Is this result expected

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Olive Leonard

Biology

2 July, 00:34

After setting up a PCR reaction Phil noticed that he'd forgotten to put primers into the mix. When he runs a gel of the PCR reaction after the reaction is finished he sees a positive result. Is this result expected

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Rambler · Answer 1

This is an unexpected result. Absence of primers means that DNA polymerase cannot bind with the template DNA and allow its amplification. If Phil sees a positive band, it should be because of contamination of primers (same set of primer or other) with DNTPs, water, MgCl2, or PCR buffer. This is the reason that a negative run for PCR is always recommended.