During PCR, why is the temperature raised to 95°C in the first step?
Responses

To activate the DNA polymerase enzyme
To activate the DNA polymerase enzyme

To allow primers to bind to the DNA
To allow primers to bind to the DNA

To separate the two strands of DNA
To separate the two strands of DNA

To speed up the chemical reactions

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
To separate the two strands of DNA.

Heating to ~95°C denatures the double helix by breaking the hydrogen bonds between base pairs, producing single-stranded templates for primer annealing and extension. (Note: some PCR kits also use a high-temperature step to activate "hot-start" polymerases, but the primary purpose of 95°C is denaturation.)