Loop-Mediated Amplification for Sensitive and Specific Detection of Viruses

ABSTRACT

Novel methods for amplification and detection of nucleic acids are developing in order to meet the challenges that viral pathogens present. A new method, termed loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), that is held under isothermal conditions of approximately 65°C enables specific and fast multiplication of DNA and RNA fragments. During the process a specific DNA- polymerase is used and a set of four specially designed primers make possible the synthesis of 10⁹-10¹⁰ copies of the desired sequence. The following material describes the basic principles of the LAMP, the approaches that are used for detection of LAMP end-products, the advantages of the technique and several applications of the method for efficient detection of different viral pathogens.

Keywords:

• loop-mediated isothermal amplification
• LAMP
• viral pathogens