Oligonucleotides: they’re much more interesting than they sound!

While reading an article, I just came across this term “Oligonucleotide”

Now I generally like to think I know alot about gene editing and DNA synthesis, but I couldnt recall this term from anywhere in my memory. So, here’s an article about what it is and why it’s important!

I’ll be calling them by their short form, Oligo, because there’s no way I’m typing out that whole thing!

Put simply, an Oligo is a synthetic and short strand of DNA or RNA. They’re pretty important and they help to facilitate the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction)

PCR is nicknamed “molecular photocopying” in that it’s an easy and simple way to duplicate or copy small segments of DNA. It’s great for making tons of copies of a segment of DNA, even millions.

Essentially what happens is that the DNA is heated so that it splits apart into the two strands, and an enzyme known as Taq polymerase goes in and copies these two strands.

Hold on, aren't we talking about Oligonucleotides though?

Yep!

So oligonucleotides are generally composed of anywhere from 13–25 nucleotides. In the process above, the researchers will use strands around 25 nucleotides that have been synthesized to have nucleotide sequences that complement the outside edges of the DNA they want to copy.

Once the double stranded DNA is opened, the oligos are given the opportunity to attach their complimentary sequences onto the sequence they’re told to.

The DNA polymerase we talked about earlier can then start copying using the oligo-DNA duplex as their starting point.

This makes billions of identical strands.

And there we have it!

They’re primers in a duplication process for mass-replicating DNA at a low cost and high efficiency. Pretty cool right?

Thanks for reading my super quick article about Oligonucleotides and what they’re used for. If you like what you read check out my other articles about synthetic biology, DNA editing and life!

Have a great day :)