What are the advantages of digital PCR (dPCR)?

Digital PCR (dPCR) is a refinement of PCR where DNA is subject to PCR for amplification of the template, then the sample undergoes fluorescent detection and sequence-specific alleles can be directly counted.  As the third generation of the technique, dPCR has many benefits over its predecessor, RT-qPCR.

• dPCR is not as vulnerable to contamination as fluorescence detection is a simplified process.
• dPCR is also capable of providing absolute, versus relative, quantification, and can be used even with low copy number genes.
• dPCR may be experimentally faster than RT-qPCR since it does not require a standard curve calibration, that also may require expensive reagents.
• dPCR also offers increased resistance to PCR inhibitors over other techniques.
• dPCR is independent of amplification efficiency, and results are extremely repeatable.
• dPCR offers a highly sensitive quantification technique where only a very small sample is needed for starting material.