What is "taqman"

TaqMan probes are hydrolysis probes that are designed to increase the specificity of quantitative PCR. The method was first reported in 1991 by researchers at Cetus Corporation, and the technology was subsequently developed by Roche Molecular Diagnostics for diagnostic assays and by Applied Biosystems for research applications.

The TaqMan probe principle relies on the 5´–3´ exonuclease activity of Taq polymerase to cleave a dual-labeled probe during hybridization to the complementary target sequence and fluorophore-based detection. As in other quantitative PCR methods, the resulting fluorescence signal permits quantitative measurements of the accumulation of the product during the exponential stages of the PCR; however, the TaqMan probe significantly increases the specificity of the detection. TaqMan probes were named after the videogame Pac-Man (Taq Polymerase + PacMan = TaqMan) as its mechanism is based on the Pac-Man principle.