DNA PCR vs. DNA Sequencing

PCR, another DNA test method, has been around for a couple decades and is a very economical way to do things, though the one limitation with PCR is typically you are looking for one specific thing. You can do PCR for a certain type of e.coli, for example, but you need to know what you’re searching for before you do the test.

Whereas with DNA sequencing you don’t need to have a target in mind, you are just literally reading DNA from the sample, so you don’t have to go in knowing what you’re looking for. DNA sequencing currently is limited only by science, at this point, and scientists are discovering new microbes that we didn’t even know existed almost daily. Currently we know more than 10,000 different bacteria that are in these databases and that’s growing every day as science continues to progress.