Patent ID: 7998672

Claim:
A method of performing a Polymerase-Chain-Reaction (PCR) using surface plasmon resonance (SPR), the method comprising: providing a PCR reaction cell that includes a surface plasmon active surface; contacting the surface plasmon active surface with an aqueous medium comprising or in fluid contact with a template, a primer capable of annealing to the template, dNTPs, and a thermostable polymerase, wherein the aqueous medium, the template, the primer, the dNTPs, and the thermostable polymerase are substantially free of dyes or labels; performing an SPR-induced PCR amplification with the template, the primer, the dNTPs, and the thermostable polymerase, wherein the SPR-induced PCR amplification includes: allowing the primer to anneal to the template; heating a portion of the aqueous medium that is in contact with the surface plasmon active surface by exciting surface plasmons at an interface between the surface plasmon active surface and the aqueous medium so as to induce selective decay of the excited surface plasmons such that decaying surface plasmons heat the aqueous medium adjacent to the surface plasmon active surface to a temperature selected to allow elongation of the primer; elongating the primer using the thermostable polymerase at the temperature selected to allow elongation of the primer; and heating a portion of the aqueous medium that is in contact with the surface plasmon active surface by exciting surface plasmons at the interface between the surface plasmon active surface and the aqueous medium so as to induce selective decay of the excited surface plasmons such that decaying surface plasmons heat the aqueous medium adjacent to the surface plasmon active surface to a temperature selected to denature the elongated primer and the template.