What is loop-mediated isothermal amplification?

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification, more commonly known as LAMP, is an emerging technology that is able to amplify DNA with high specificity, rapidity, and efficiency under isothermal conditions using strand displacement reaction. This technique uses DNA polymerase with high strand displacement activity and 4 to 6 different primers specifically designed to recognize 6 to 8 distinct regions on the target gene. 

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification offers several advantages over other DNA amplification techniques. The reaction is more efficient because it takes place in isothermal conditions. The high strand displacement activity of the polymerase does away with the need for thermal denaturation of double stranded DNA. Amplification and detection take less than 30 minutes, which is less than half the time taken by other techniques. LAMP is also more cost-effective as it does not require sophisticated equipment or special reactions. 

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is used for rapid diagnosis of viral, bacterial and parasitic infections and to identify genus and species-specific parasites.