Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends (RACE)

Rapid Amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) provides an inexpensive and powerful tool to quickly obtain full-length cDNA when the sequence is only partially known. Starting with an mRNA mixture, gene-specific primers generated from the known regions of the gene and non-specific anchors, full-length sequences can be identified in as little as 3 days. RACE can also be used to identify alternative transcripts of a gene when the partial or complete sequence of only one transcript is known. In the following sections, we outline details for rapid amplification of 5^′ and 3^′ cDNA ends using the “new RACE” technique.