ddPCR Basics
In this chapter I will briefly cover the basics of ddPCR. I have intentionally decided to not include a lot of general information, such as what ddPCR is, and decided to focus on the topics that are the most relevant to those that are starting out or will start with running ddPCR experiments in the near future. First, I will try to explain how partitioning allows us to leverage the use of Poisson statistics to model the copy numbers of your target in the initial sample as well as the most common types of assays run with ddPCR (or any dPCR platform for that matter). Secondly, I will cover designing your primer & probe pairs for ddPCR, the most common controls and sample types used in experiments. Finally, I will finish this overview with the introduction to the feature unique to ddPCR - amplitude multiplexing - the ability to detect multiple targets in a single channel by exploiting the superb cluster separation in ddPCR systems.