[1] The technique has applications in some types of sequencing and hybridization probing where having only one of the two complementary strands is required.
[2] Asymmetric PCR differs from regular PCR by the excessive amount of primers for a chosen strand.
Due to the slow (arithmetic) amplification later in the reaction (after the limiting primer has been used up) extra cycles of PCR are required.
[3] A modification on this process, known as Linear-After-The-Exponential-PCR (LATE-PCR), uses a limiting primer with a higher melting temperature than the excess primer to maintain reaction efficiency as the limiting primer concentration decreases mid-reaction.
[citation needed] Single stranded DNA is also important for aptamer generation.