Table 11.

Summary of the applications and capabilities of ddPCR.

Applications	ddPCR capabilities
Absolute quantification	ddPCR’s immense droplet partitioning provides quantification of DNA copies without standard curves, giving more precise and reproducible data and making it ideal for target DNA measurements, viral load analysis, and microbial quantification (93)
Genomic alterations such as gene copy number variation (CNV)	CNVs are deletions and amplifications of genome segments involved in phenotypic variability, complex behavioral traits, and disease. ddPCR’s droplet partitioning provides a large number of replicates that precisely measure copy numbers (23, 93)
Detection of rare sequences	ddPCR increases sensitivity by partitioning the target mutant DNA away from highly homologous wild-type DNA (93)
Gene expression and microRNA analysis	ddPCR provides stand-alone absolute quantification withsensitivity and precision of expression levels, especially low-abundance microRNAs (93)
Next-generation sequencing (NGS)	Absolute quantification and accuracy of NGS sample preparations and validated sequencing results or CNVs (93)
Single-cell analysis	ddPCR enables the quantification of low copy number (93)
Genome edit detection	dPCR provides fast, accurate, and cost-effective evaluation of homology-directed repair and non-homologous end joining generated by CRISPR-Cas9 or other genome editing tools (93)