What are Hot-Start DNA polymerases?

Conventional DNA polymerases exert a certain level of background activity at room temperature. This may affect the performance of the individual PCR reactions.

During setup some minor amplification may occur prior to starting the PCR instrument. To prevent any background polymerase activity and to synchronize all reactions, the enzyme is silenced either by binding of a specific antibody or by chemical modification.

This enzyme inhibition can be released by an initial denaturation step at 95°C.