Question

How many molecules of DNA would result from one molecule after four cycles of PCR

Answer 1

Answer: B.16

Explanation

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a technique used in molecular biology to make millions of copies DNA from a small amount of it. To acomplish this, short segments of DNA called primers are designed to each chain of the DNA that is going to be copied. Then, the DNA polymerase adds nucleotides to theose primers that will be complementary to the DNA chains. After one molecule is amplified, a new molecule is amplified using that one and so on and so forth. Then, 2 chains are amplified in one cycle to get 2 molecules (with two chains each) Thereby, the replication rate of DNA is exponential, then it is calculated as:

1 x (2^4) = 16 DNA molecules.

1= molecule

2= chains per molecule

4= number of cycles

Answer 2

I think the answer should be 16 because 1×2^4=16