Calculus

Preview Problem 1: PCR The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a method to measure the gene expression of a certain gene. An initial amount of a gene Co, measured in mmol is doubled in each cycle. Moreover, due to machine precision limitations, in each cycle you loose 15 mmol of the gene. 1. Write down a difference equation model for the gene concentration Cn . 2. Assume Co = 20, compute C1, C2, C3. 3. Use the explicit solution of linear discrete models (for example as shown in video 2.E5) to solve for C. 4. A gene expression is measurable if the gene expression exceeds 1000mmol. After how many cycles does the concentration exceed 1000mmol when we start with Co = 20