What are Primers?

Chemically synthesized oligonucleotides

Primers are chemically synthesized oligonucleotides used in DNA amplification techniques like PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction). They are short, single-stranded DNA sequences that are complementary to the target DNA sequence that needs to be amplified. Primers act as starting points for DNA polymerase to initiate the synthesis of a new DNA strand during PCR.