Inverse PCR

Inverse PCR (IPCR), described by Ochman et al in 1988, is a method for the rapid in vitro amplification of DNA sequences that flank a region of known sequence. The method uses the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), but it has the primers oriented in the reverse direction of the usual orientation. The template for the reverse primers is a restriction fragment that has been ligated upon itself to form a circle. Inverse PCR has many applications in molecular genetics, for example, the amplification and identification of sequences flanking transposable elements.