Whole genome amplification on single cell

The whole genome amplification (WGA) is a method for an entire genome amplification, starting with low amounts of DNA. Particularly, it allows downstream analysis, such as genomic screening [i.e., comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) array, next generation sequencing] and single gene mutation detection in single cells. Because WGA could introduce few bias, dependent on different methods, their selection should be related to the application. The first WGA method was based on amplification reaction and differently from a regular polymerase chain reaction (PCR), in which a single genetic locus is amplified, different locus were amplified simultaneously. Nowadays, several methods have been developed for WGA: degenerate oligonucleotide PCR and primer extension preamplification based on PCR, and multiple displacement amplification achieved with isothermal reaction setup. Each WGA approach has limitations, such as the genome coverage, chimeric DNA molecules, preferential allele amplification or allele drop-out and the guanine-cytosine (GC) richness (GC%). In this review, we detailed different WGA methods for single cell and their most important applications, such as cancer diagnosis and reproductive medicine.