PCR-intractable
|P C R - in - trac - ta - ble|
🇺🇸
/ˌpiː.siːˈɑr ɪnˈtræk.tə.bəl/
🇬🇧
/ˌpiː.siːˈɑː ɪnˈtræk.tə.bəl/
not amplifiable by PCR
Etymology
'PCR-intractable' is a compound of the acronym 'PCR' (from 'polymerase chain reaction', a term coined in the 1980s) and the adjective 'intractable', which originates from Latin, specifically the word 'intractabilis', where 'in-' meant 'not' and 'tractare' (from the root 'tract-') meant 'to handle' or 'to draw'.
'intractable' changed from Latin 'intractabilis' via Old French/Middle English forms into the modern English adjective 'intractable'. 'PCR' originated as a modern scientific acronym for 'polymerase chain reaction' (coined in the early 1980s) and was later combined with existing adjectives to form technical compounds such as 'PCR-intractable'.
Initially, 'intractable' meant 'difficult to manage or handle'; in the compound 'PCR-intractable' the emphasis shifted to a specific technical sense: 'not amenable to PCR amplification.'
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
not amenable to amplification by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), typically because of degraded DNA, chemical inhibitors, cross-linking, strong secondary structure, or other factors that prevent successful PCR.
Many archival tissue samples proved PCR-intractable because the DNA was heavily fragmented and contained inhibitors.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/09/19 10:40