What are the forward and reverse primers?

Forward and reverse primers are short sequences of nucleotides used in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify specific DNA segments. The forward primer binds to the start of the target DNA sequence, while the reverse primer binds to the complementary strand at the end of the target region, allowing for synthesis of the new DNA strand. Together, they enable the selective amplification of the desired DNA fragment during the PCR process.