MDA is a molecular amplification method that enhances simple, rapid, isothermal whole-genome amplification. By applying MDA to linear genomic DNA, it is possible to achieve a million-fold amplification with a very high degree of accuracy (bias 2-3 fold and greater than 99% coverage). Hexamer primers are added to linear genomic DNA together with a highly specialized polymerase. The unique properties of the polymerase proceed to carry out strand displacement DNA synthesis on double- or single-stranded DNA templates. Once initial priming has occurred, an exponential cascade of branched amplification generates single-stranded templates for ongoing priming. (more...)