Efficiency of Polymerase Chain Reaction Polymerases

Dr. Scott Aoki’s laboratory at the IU School of Medicine in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology focuses on is focused on developing new experimental methods to study the molecular mechanisms of RNA-protein complex inheritance in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). My project revolved around testing the efficiency of different PCR polymerases at a specific DNA fragment length. The Aoki lab utilizes the free-living nematode, C. elegans, to study gene regulation and protein inheritance. The overall goal of my project was to better understand which PCR polymerases work best for DNA amplification in the C. elegans multicellular organism. I tested four different enzymes using the same primers to yield the same DNA fragment length. I was able to identify differences in the effectiveness of polymerases used and determine which are better suited for PCR amplification of C. elegans DNA fragments.