Methods and systems of determining optimal amplification cycle numbers

A computer product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a plurality of instructions to perform operations that, when executed, control a computer system to determine an optimal amplification cycle number m for an amplification reaction of a template nucleic acid of unknown copy number in a sample, the operations comprising:

• detecting signals representing amplification products at each cycle of the n cycles of the amplification reaction;
• monitoring, based on the detected signals, the amplification reaction as a function of cycle number;
• determining a transition point of the amplification reaction, wherein the transition point corresponds to a change in the detected signals;
• and
• predicting the optimal amplification cycle number m based on the transition point, wherein m is larger than n.

A Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) system, comprising:

• a PCR data acquiring device configured to detect signals representing amplification products at each cycle of n cycles of an amplification reaction;
• and
• a computer system configured to process the signals to determine an optimal amplification cycle number m for the amplification reaction of a template nucleic acid of unknown copy number in a sample by:
• receiving the detected signals;
• monitoring, based on the detected signals, the amplification reaction as a function of cycle number;
• determining a transition point of the amplification reaction, wherein the transition point corresponds to a change in the detected signals;
• and
• predicting the optimal amplification cycle number m based on the transition point, wherein m is larger than n.