Gene expression is the process by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product. These products are often proteins, but in non-protein coding genes such as rRNA genes or tRNA genes, the product is a structural or housekeeping RNA. In addition, small non-coding RNAs (miRNAs, piRNA) and various classes of long non-coding RNAs are involved in a variety of biological regulatory functions.

When studying gene expression with real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), scientists commonly investigate changes—increases or decreases—in the expression of a specific gene or set of genes by measuring the abundance of the gene-specific transcript. The investigation monitors the response of a gene with a compound or drug of interest, under a defined set of conditions. Gene expression studies can also involve looking at profiles or patterns of expression of several genes.

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