Method for generating recombinant DNA molecules in complex mixtures

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, the method comprising:

• (i) providing a population of DNA fragments, which DNA fragments comprise at least one of a complex population of naturally occurring DNA molecules or a complex population of cDNA molecules, in a buffered reaction mixture comprising a multiplicity of nucleotides comprising adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine, and at least one DNA polymerase;
• (ii) denaturing the population of DNA fragments;
• (iii) annealing at least a sub-population of DNA fragments;
• (iv) incubating the sub-population of annealed DNA fragments, which sub-population of annealed DNA fragments is present in a mixture comprising the complex population of naturally occurring DNA molecules or the complex population of cDNA molecules, such that the at least one DNA polymerase extends the sub-population of annealed DNA fragments into a plurality of double stranded recombinant DNA molecules.

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, the method comprising:

• (i) providing a population of DNA fragments, which DNA fragments comprise at least one of a complex population of naturally occurring DNA molecules or a complex population of cDNA molecules, in a buffered reaction mixture comprising a multiplicity of nucleotides comprising adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine, and at least one DNA polymerase;
• (ii) denaturing the population of DNA fragments;
• (iii) simultaneously annealing at least two sub-populations of heterogeneous DNA fragments comprising homologous members, thereby providing a mixture of hybridized heterogeneous homologous DNA fragments;
• (iv) incubating the mixture of hybridized heterogeneous homologous DNA fragments such that the at least one DNA polymerase extends the hybridized heterogeneous homologous DNA fragments into a plurality of double stranded recombinant DNA molecules.