Patent ID: 8906652

Claim:
A method for performing a polymerase chain reaction (PCR), comprising: providing a reaction chamber having thermally conductive interior and exterior surfaces defining an internal volume within said reaction chamber, said interior volume being at a first temperature; providing a pair of thermally conductive temperature-control bladders, said pair of bladders being positioned in a substantially opposing arrangement with respect to each other and being configured to receive a temperature-control substance at a second temperature into said pair of bladders and expel said temperature-control substance from said pair of bladders; and wherein said pair of bladders being further configured such that upon receiving said temperature-control substance said pair of bladders expand to abut substantially at least a portion of said exterior surfaces of said reaction chamber to enable thermal exchange between said temperature-control substance and said internal volume of reaction chamber; introducing said temperature-control substance under conditions effective to cause an expansion of said pair of bladders to bring said pair of bladders into substantially abutting said at least a portion of said exterior surfaces of said reaction chamber to enable thermal exchange between said temperature-control substance and said internal volume of reaction chamber.