Abstract: A process for exponentially amplifying a selected nucleic acid sequence present in a sample, comprising the steps of forming a mixture of the sample and a single primer designed to hybridize with the selected nucleic acid sequence; causing the single primer to hybridize to a single strand of the nucleic acid sequence of interest; forming a duplex product of the nucleic acid by a polymerase reaction; separating the duplex product into single strands; and repeating the preceding steps until the rate of production of the amplification product is exponential and the nucleic acid sequence of interest has been amplified.