Loop-Mediated Amplification for Sensitive and Specific Detection of Viruses

Novel methods for amplification and detection of nucleic acids are developing in order to meet the challenges that viral pathogens present. A new method, termed loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), that is held under isothermal conditions of approximately 65 degrees C enables specific and fast multiplication of DNA and RNA fragments. During the process a specific DNA-polymerase is used and a set of four specially designed primers make possible the synthesis of 10(9)-10(10) copies of the desired sequence. The following material describes the basic principles of the LAMP the approaches that are used for detection of LAMP end-products, the advantages of the technique and several applications of the method for efficient detection of different viral pathogens.