Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA Fingerprinting: The Basics

The study of genetic polymorphism among diverse populations of organisms is a complex task. However, this can be accomplished by using newer tools, such as randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). RAPD is a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique that relies on the generation of amplification products for a given nucleic acid using an amplification-based scanning technique driven by arbitrary priming oligonucleotides. The result is the generation of amplification products (amplicons) that represent a multiplicity of anonymous sites that are characteristic of the studied genome (Fig. 1 A,B ).