Thermostable Taq polymerase and automated PCR
Taq polimerasa termoestable y PCR automatizada
- Date
- 1976-1988 · confidence high
- Place
- Cetus Corporation, Emeryville, California, United States
- Credited to
- Randall Saiki, Kary Mullis and Cetus; Alice Chien (isolation, 1976)
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
The DNA polymerase from the thermophilic bacterium Thermus aquaticus, isolated from the Yellowstone springs, withstands the 95 °C of each PCR cycle. Its use (Saiki et al., 1988) avoided adding enzyme each cycle and enabled automated thermal cyclers, making PCR a routine technique.
Chien, Edgar and Trela (University of Cincinnati, 1976) isolated the enzyme; Thomas Brock had discovered the bacterium in Yellowstone in 1966–1969. Cetus sold the Taq patents to Roche in 1991 for 300 million dollars.
What it led to
- thermal cyclers and real-time PCR (qPCR)
- HIV and COVID-19 diagnostic tests (RT-PCR)
- forensic science and ancient DNA sequencing