Cycling probe technology (CPT) is a molecular biological technique for detecting specific DNA sequences.
Because the CPT reaction is isothermally kept just above the melting point of the original probe, the cleaved fragments dissociate from the target DNA.
Once dissociated, the target DNA is free to hybridize with a new probe, beginning the cycle again.
[6] When working with small concentrations of target DNA, the CPT protocol can be modified to increase specificity and efficiency.
[3] Because cycling probe technology does not involve the amplification of target DNA, CPT has a lower risk of cross contamination than PCR.
[5] Clinically, CPT can be used as an alternative to cell culturing in order to detect antibacterial resistance of a pathogen.
But because cleaved probes accumulate following linear rate kinetics, the amount of target DNA can be quantified.