University of Basra Organizes Workshop on qPCR Technology and Its Role in Gene Expression Analysis

The Center for Marine Sciences at the University of Basra organized a workshop titled “Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR): A Commonly Used Tool in Biotechnology and Bioinformatics for Analyzing and Predicting Gene Expression.”

The workshop aimed to enable participants to use qPCR as a fundamental tool in biotechnology and to analyze its data using bioinformatics to quantitatively predict patterns of gene expression.

The workshop, led by Dr. Hala Fadel Hassan, covered the working principles of this technique and its applications, as well as its differences from conventional PCR, experimental design—starting with the selection of primers and probes—the use of reference genes, data analysis specific to this technique, and linking qPCR results to biological functions. Reference was also made to the integration of data and results with Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), a novel technology of its kind being applied for the first time.