ABSTRACT
It is important to perform control reactions in parallel with the test samples to indicate whether any specificity (Section 2) or contamination (Section 5) problems exist. At least two controls are essential, a reaction containing no DNA and one containing no primers. You should think of the control reactions as being just as important as your test samples and there are times when you may wish to include more controls. For example, if you are beginning to work with a new pair of primers, it is a good idea to include controls containing single primers. In this way you can see whether any products are generated from either of the primers alone, rather than by the two working in combination.
