FastStart TaqMan® Probe Master is a ready-to-use hot start reaction mix without ROX for quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and reverse transcription (RT)-qPCR on real-time PCR systems other than the LightCycle® instruments. It is a 2x concentrated master mix that contains all the reagents (except primers, probe, and template). This master mix simplifies the preparation of reactions for DNA detection and analysis. It allows very sensitive detection and quantification of defined DNA sequences. Hot start protocols have been also been shown to significantly improve the specificity and yield of PCR. Heat-labile blocking groups on some of the amino acid residues of FastStart Taq DNA Polymerase make the modified enzyme inactive at room temperature. Therefore, there is no elongation during the period when primers can non-specifically bind. The FastStart Taq DNA Polymerase is activated by removing the blocking groups at a high temperature (i.e., a pre-incubation step at +95°C). This FastStart TaqMan® Probe Master can be used for the amplification and detection of any DNA or cDNA target, including those that are GC- or AT-rich. However, you would need to adapt your detection protocol to the reaction conditions of the particular real-time PCR instrument used and design a specific hydrolysis probe and PCR primers for each target. Combination of this master mix with our Transcriptor First Strand cDNA Synthesis Kit achieves excellent results in two-step qRT-PCR.