(noun. ˈsē-ˌdē-(ˌ)en-ˈā)
by Anna Goddard
What does it mean?
cDNA, also known as copy DNA or complementary DNA, is a type of synthetic DNA derived from mRNA using a reverse transcriptase enzyme. cDNA is different from genomic DNA in that it only contains coding sequences.
How do I use it in a sentence?
“I made cDNA to use in quantitative PCR to measure the amount of mRNA of the gene of interest.”
Steps of creating and using cDNA. Primers (yellow) bind to mRNA (red) and are amplified in reverse transcription. New primers bind to cDNA to amplify the cDNA in PCR.
Related Terms:
DNA, RNA, Reverse Transcription, PCR, RT-qPCR, DNA synthesis
