real time polymerase chain reaction assay quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction qPCR kinetic polymerase chain reaction Melanie Courtot Q-PCR real time polymerase chain reaction assay An assay, based on the PCR, that amplifies and simultaneously quantifies a specific DNA molecule based on the use of complementary probes/primers. It enables both detection and quantification (as absolute number of copies or relative amount when normalized to DNA input or additional normalizing genes) of one or more specific sequences in a DNA sample. Bjoern Peters url:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_polymerase_chain_reaction polymerase chain reaction assay metadata complete