What Are the Limitations of RT-PCR in Cancer Research?
Despite its advantages, RT-PCR has certain limitations:
RNA Quality: The quality of RNA is critical for RT-PCR. Degraded RNA can lead to inaccurate results. Contamination Risk: The amplification process is susceptible to contamination, which can result in false positives. Primer Design: Designing specific primers is essential but can be challenging, especially for genes with high sequence similarity. Quantification Challenges: While qRT-PCR is quantitative, absolute quantification can be difficult without proper standards and controls.