Primer design

[Tom Anderson]

On Fri, 29 Nov 2002, Phoenix wrote:

> I would like to know the succcessful rate of the primers designed by primer
> 3 in PCR?

i haven't actually tried my big primer3 primers yet. for the applications
for which it was intended (STS analysis and the like), i think it's
generally quite successful.

> Coz i usually fail in PCR if i decide primer by myself and need to order
> several pairs of primers : (

primer design really is a bit of a black art - if you follow the rules
about length, melting temperature, having a few C/G bases at the 3' end,
etc, it'll usually work, but sometimes, for no apparent reason, it
doesn't.

tom

-- 
an expertly crafted mix of practical decision-making and drunken shouting