Reagents for improving pcr accuracy

A method of increasing polymerase selectivity when amplifying a target nucleotide in a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification reaction mixture comprising a PCR reaction buffer, wherein the amplification reaction mixture comprises at least one nucleic acid strand comprising at least one target sequence, at least one primer pair, a DNA polymerase, dNTPs, and at least one Reagent comprised of at least one pair of complementary oligonucleotides with the capacity to form 25-800 nM concentration of a double-stranded hybrid 6-50 base pairs long with a melting temperature (Tm) of at least 32° C., said double-stranded hybrid having an end that includes interacting, covalently attached label moieties, a bulky, non-planar fluorophore on one strand and on the other strand a non-bulky, planar moiety that is a non-fluorescent quencher,

• wherein neither strand of said at least one double-stranded oligonucleotide Reagent acts as a probe or a primer on a template strand amplified in the reaction, and
• subjecting the reaction mixture to multiple PCR thermal cycles having a primer annealing temperature and a primer extension temperature.