DIY DNA PCR

This article is a bit different to my usual Mycological Notes.

Acquiring and analysing sequence data is critical to understanding fungal species and most of my professional work is dependent on DNA sequencing. You might think that is out of the reach of amateur mycologists but that is not so. The pandemic lockdown gave me an opportunity to see if it was possible to carry out the key steps at home. DNA extraction and PCR are relatively straightforward techniques and understanding them is both enlightening and rewarding. I assembled what I learnt - from a home PCR perspective - into these notes. They may be useful for somebody thinking about going down the same pathway. This stuff is bound to get easier and cheaper as the technology continues to improve. I will probably add (and substract) content from these notes as I continue to play.