Molecular beacon
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'''Molecular beacons''' are [[oligonucleotide]] [[hybridization probe]]s that can report the presence of specific [[nucleic acid]]s in homogenous solutions. The terms more often used is '''molecular beacon probes'''. Molecular beacons are [[hairpin]] shaped molecules with an internally [[quenched]] [[fluorophore]] whose [[fluorescence]] is restored when they bind to a target nucleic acid sequence. This is a novel non[[radioactive]] method for detecting specific sequences of nucleic acids. They are useful in situations where it is either not possible or desirable to isolate the probe-target hybrids from an excess of the hybridization probes.
==Molecular Beacon Probes==
A typical molecular beacon probe is 25 [[nucleotides]] long. The middle 15 nucleotides are complementary to the target [[DNA]] and do not base pair with one another, and the five nucleotides at each end are complementary to each other and not to the target DNA.
==References==
# [http://www.bio.davidson.edu/courses/Molbio/MolStudents/spring2000/palma/beacons.html Jon Palma's]
# [http://www.genelink.com/newsite/products/mbintro.asp Gene Link]
# [http://www.molecular-beacons.org/ Molecular Beacon]
[[Category:Biochemistry methods]]
[[Category:Fluorescence]]