Quantitative PCR can be done either by measuring the amount of PCR products at a given number of cycle (end-point quantitative PCR) (1 –4 ) or by following the amount of products during the PCR at several cycles (kinetic quantitative PCR) (5 ,6 ). In this chapter, we define these two quantitative PCR methods, give their main characteristics, and compare their advantages and drawbacks. We then give a few examples of applications of the kinetic PCR method we have been using during the past few years.
