FAQ: What is LAMP and RT-LAMP?

Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) is an isothermal amplification method designed to detect a target nucleic acid without requiring sophisticated equipment. It uses a stand-displacing DNA polymerase such as Bst 2.0 WarmStart® DNA Polymerase (NEB #M0538) and 4-6 primers recognizing 6-8 distinct regions of target DNA for a highly specific amplification reaction.

LAMP provides high sensitivity (to fg or <10 copies of target) but with rapid results: reactions can be performed in as little as 5–10 minutes. Reactions can be performed with limited resources, using a water bath for incubation and detection of results by eye, or with real-time measurement and high-throughput instruments. Detection of RNA targets is accomplished by simple addition of a reverse transcriptase to the LAMP reaction, with RT-LAMP performed as a true one-step, isothermal workflow. WarmStart RTx Reverse Transcriptase (NEB #M0380) is a RNA-directed DNA polymerase coupled with a reversibly-bound aptamer that inhibits RTx activity below 40°C, making it particularly well suited for RT-LAMP.

To learn more and to view our LAMP product offerings, please visit the LAMP Application Overview Page.