Optical thermal cycler for use as a fluorimetric plate reader to estimate DNA concentrations

Recent developments in PCR techniques provide the opportunity to quantify low copy numbers of specific nucleic acid sequences by quantitative, real-time PCR (1). The use of quantitative, real-time PCR is spreading due to its accuracy and relative simplicity. As a consequence, the number of laboratories equipped with an optical thermal cycler is increasing.We acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology through the Ramón y Cajal Program and projects REN2002-00041 and BTE2002- 04492-C02-01.Peer Reviewe