5.3.4. RNA based methods

In these methods a specific binding between the RNA molecule and a primer (RNA or DNA synthetic oligonucleotide) is performed. The primer, complement to the start of the RNA molecule, annealed with it resulting in a double strand heteroduplex similar to DNA. Using reverse transcriptase a DNA molecule is synthesized de novo, which can be further amplified by PCR and detected. A disadvantage of this method is the fact that the specific primers can not be designed without knowledge about the RNA composition to be detected.