polymerase chain reaction assay real-time polymerase chain reaction assay 2014-01-14T13:23:47Z JSmith MMO:0000460 Real-time PCR is able to detect sequence-specific PCR products as they accumulate in 'real-time' during the PCR amplification process. As the PCR product of interest is produced, real-time PCR can detect their accumulation and quantify the number of substrates present in the initial PCR mixture before amplification began. kinetic polymerase chain reaction measurement_method_ontology qPCR quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction real-time PCR