Figure 1.

Schematic representation of the hyperbranched strand-displacement amplification reaction. Single-stranded genomic DNA serves as the target for multiple random priming events. Growing strands are propagated by a DNA polymerase with strand-displacement activity. The 5′ end of each strand is displaced by another upstream strand, growing in the same direction. Displaced strands, which are single-stranded, are now targeted by new random priming events, and these new strands are elongated in the opposite direction. As the reaction proceeds, the hyperbranched network expands dramatically, generating thousands or even millions of copies of the original DNA.